Will fight polls on my own: Vaghela

Addressing a press conference in Gandhinagar on Thursday, Vaghela said that he was not informed of his ouster as NCP Gujarat president by the party’s high command. When asked about whether he will put in his resignation from the party, the senior politician told the mediapersons that a decision will be taken soon in the matter.

Vaghela further said that NCP executive chairman Babal Patel has offered his resignation to him to “pass it on to NCP president Sharad Pawar, along with a message by over 12,000 workers in Gujarat”.

“Over 12,000 workers of NCP in Gujarat have written a letter to convey their feelings and Babal Patel has urged me to hand it over to Pawar sahib. These workers have authorised me to take any decision for their welfare. In the coming days, I will meet two senior leaders in Gujarat and then take a decision..,” said Vaghela.

When asked whether Vaghela will be active in the coming elections in Gujarat, he said, “I will contest taluka and zilla panchayat, municipality and by-elections for vacant seats in Gujarat Vidhan Sabha without the support of NCP, Congress or BJP. I will declare candidates and fight elections on the basis of unemployment, prohibition issue, farmers’ issues, denotification of land in Kevadia among others…”

Vaghela, the former Gujarat CM, had broken away from the BJP in 1996 and in 2017, he walked out of Congress weeks ahead of the Rajya Sabha polls, six other MLAs following suit, thus jeopardising the party candidate and senior leader Ahmed Patel’s re-election to the upper house .