Veteran Gujarat Congress leader Dalsukh Prajapati quits party

“I have served the party for forty eight years, but over the last three years, the party has been behaving like anti-poor, showing little concern for poor citizens and their plight. It has not been putting up good fight against ruling BJP over issues that adversely affect the poor, such as land acquisition policy, to name one,” Prajapati said at a press conference.

Prajapati joined Congress in 1967, then went on to serve as Congress councilor in 1987 and Vadodara mayor between 1989-1992. He then served as deputy mayor from 1992. He spent 18 years at different positions in the civic body, during which the party offered him ticket to fight by-election from Sayajigunj constituency in 2002. For five years, between 1995-2000, he served as the leader of opposition in the Vadodara Municipal Corporation.

Without elaborating much on the reason of his resignation, Prajapati said he was going to remain active in politics, without committing to join BJP. “I have not talked to anybody in the BJP, nor have I heard from them. BJP has made me many offers in the past but I refused to join them. I can’t say as of now if I shall be ready to join BJP if they approach me with request to join them,” he said, adding he has mailed his resignation to COngress president Sonia Gandhi and state Congress president Bharatsinh Solanki.

Prajapati’s younger son, Vishnu Prajapati, is a member of BJP, having joined the party in 2011, after getting defeated in civic polls on Congress ticket. His elder son, Rajesh Prajapati, stays in Congress. EoM.