New Delhi: Ahead of the Gujarat Assembly elections later this year, tribal leader and three-time Congress MLA Ashwin Kotwal resigned from the party and joined BJP on Tuesday.
Talking to reporters close to news agency PTI, Kotwal cited ‘injustice’ within the party for his decision.
According to state Assembly secretariat, Kotwal had resigned as the party MLA from Khedbrahma and his resignation was accepted by Speaker Nimaben Acharya on Tuesday morning. Before joining the saffron party, Kotwal also said he has resigned from the primary membership of the Congress.
“I was not happy with the Congress's functioning. Instead of giving tickets to those who are popular among the masses, the party leadership used to favour only those who remained loyal to them. I fear they can also deny me a ticket in future and because of such injustice, I am now joining the BJP,” PTI quoted Kotwal as saying.
He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi, when he was the Gujarat chief minister, had offered him to join the BJP in 2007, when he was elected as MLA for the first time.
“I firmly believe that tribal areas of Gujarat witnessed development under Modiji. He invited me to join the BJP in 2007 saying he needs dedicated people like me to work for the uplift of tribals. Though I did not join the BJP in 2007, I became a huge fan of Modiji since then,” Kotwal added.
Meanwhile, Gujarat BJP president CR Paatil welcomed Kotwal into the saffron party-fold during a function held at the state BJP headquarters 'Kamalam' in Gandhinagar on Tuesday afternoon.
Notably, Kotwal had won the Khedbrahma seat in Sabarkantha district, reserved for Scheduled Tribe candidates, on Congress ticket during the state elections in 2007, 2012 and 2017.
Following Kotwal’s resignation, the Congress' strength in the 182-member Gujarat Assembly has reduced to 63, while the BJP has 111 members.