Gujarat: Former Congress leaders Naresh Raval and Raju Parmar join BJP

Raval, who was one of the All India Congress Committee (AICC) delegates from Gujarat, was also the former state industry minister. He was also the leader of the opposition in the Assembly during the 2002 riots and had been with the Congress for 40 years.

Parmar, on the other hand, was a three-time Rajya Sabha member who was also a member of the National Commission for Scheduled Caste.

The two former Congress leaders were welcomed to the BJP by Paatil in the presence of hundreds of party workers.

Parmar said the current Congress is not the party which it used to be. He alleged that in the current Congress dispensation, only two to four people are taking decisions without consulting senior leaders.

Without naming anyone, Parmar alleged that the Congress was giving preference to newcomers while ignoring senior leaders committed to the party’s ideology.

When asked about the Congress’s claim that the leaders quit despite being rewarded with so much, the two leaders said that whatever they got was because of their merits and hard work for the party.