Prajapati wasn’t interested in party work, says Congress

Prajapati, who broke his 40-year association with Congress, twice served as Vadodara mayor and also won the 2002 Assembly elections from Sayajigunj seat.

The resignation of 76-year-old Dalsukh Prajapati, who headed the Other Backward Class (OBC) cell of Congress’s Gujarat unit for over a decade, from the membership of the party shocked several leaders as there was no voice of dissent against him.

Prajapati, who broke his 40-year association with Congress, twice served as Vadodara mayor and also won the 2002 Assembly elections from Sayajigunj seat. Prajapati was considered to have cordial ties with all previous state party chiefs and that could be the reason why he continued as OBC cell chief from the tenure of Amarsinh Chaudhary to Arjun Modhwadia. He was not disturbed even during the previous stint of Bharatsinh Solanki, who is again heading the state unit since March this year.

While Prajapati said “the party’s lack of concern for the poor” drove him to resign, Congress leaders said he was inactive for the last several years” and the party leadership was contemplating to replace him.

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State party spokesperson Manish Doshi said Congress had convened a meeting of the OBC cell thrice in the last two months, but Prajapati did not turn up even once. “This indicated he was not interested,’ said Doshi.

Doshi said the current period was crucial for the party because of the upcoming civic elections.

Though Prajapati said he was not joining BJP, Gujarat Congress general secretary Narendra Ravat recalled the septuagenarian’s son Vishnu Prajapati had joined the saffron outfit at a grand function in 2012 in presence of the then chief minister Narendra Modi.

“So, one can understand where was his loyalty lying and that is why he had been refusing to attended OBC cell’s meetings,” said Ravat.

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He also maintained that Prajapati leaving the Congress would not affect the party as the Thakor is the dominated community among the OBCs and Prajapati belongs to the Kumbhar community.

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