The Congress on Tuesday continued to lose leaders in Gujarat as five-time Lok Sabha MP and outgoing Rajya Sabha member Naran Rathwa, his son Sangramsinh, and Ahmedabad Congress leader Dharmendra Patel were among several who joined the BJP at an event in Gandhinagar. In the last two months, the Congress has lost MLA Chirag Patel and Assembly chief whip C J Chavda to the ruling party. One of the Congress’s tribal faces in Gujarat, Rathwa is a former Union Minister and was a close aide of the late Ahmed Patel. His absence is expected to further dent the Congress in the Chhota Udepur district. The Rathwa father-son duo said they decided to quit the party because of "demoralisation from lack of decision-making". Rathwa began his political career with the Janata Dal and served as the vice president of the then Baroda district unit. He was elected to the Lok Sabha in 1989 on a Janata Dal ticket. Two years later, Rathwa switched over to the Congress and won his second term. He won the parliamentary polls in 1996 and 1998 too but lost to the BJP’s Ramsinh Rathwa in 1999. આજે પ્રદેશ કાર્યાલય શ્રી કમલમ ખાતે કોંગ્રેસનાં સિનિયર અને આદિવાસી સમાજનાં નેતા શ્રી નારણભાઇ રાઠવા, એમનાં પુત્ર શ્રી સંગ્રામ રાઠવા, શ્રી ધર્મેન્દ્રભાઇ પટેલ સહિત મોટી સંખ્યામાં કોંગ્રેસનાં કાર્યકર્તાશ્રીઓ અને સામાજિક આગેવાનશ્રીઓને ભારતીય જનતા પાર્ટીનો ખેસ પહેરાવી પાર્ટીમાં જોડ્યા.… pic.twitter.com/6AgUoMJJyI — C R Paatil (@CRPaatil) February 27, 2024 He returned to Parliament five years later and served as the Minister of State for Railways in the UPA 1 government. Five years later, he lost to Ramsinh again and then moved to organisational work. In 2018, the party sent him to the Rajya Sabha. 'No nyay in the party'. The BJP, which had earlier struggled to find a face in Chhota Udepur, will now feel it is in a “better position” to pick candidates for the coming elections, according to party insiders. This will also further weaken the Congress that had only Rathwa and former Leader of Opposition Sukhram Rathva to bank on in Chhota Udepur. Sukhram Rathva too has been keeping a low profile in the district. Sangramsinh is the veteran leader’s successor and there had been speculation that the former MP was in talks with the BJP for a Lok Sabha ticket for his son. Sangramsinh unsuccessfully contested the 2022 Assembly polls from Chhota Udepur on a Congress ticket, losing to Sukhram Rathva’s son-in-law Rajendrasinh. Rajendrasinh quit the Congress and moved to the BJP a month before the Assembly polls along with his father and 10-term Congress MLA Mohansinh Rathwa. That was another big blow to the Congress in Chhota Udeput along with the defection of Dhiru Bhil who moved to the ruling party in May 2023. After joining the BJP on Tuesday, Naran Rathwa said, "I am not upset with the Congress. I am influenced by the developmental politics of Prime Minister Narendra Modi . I am satisfied with the funds allocated by the Centre to Chhota Udepur district for development; we can work better and stronger together …” Sangramsinh told The Indian Express that the Congress’s main problem was that it had been unable to rebuild after the drubbing it received in the 2022 polls. “It is because there is no decision-making and effort … Rahul Gandhi is on a Nyay Yatra across the country, but there is no ‘nyay (justice)’ in the party. The educated youth of the party are not being given any responsibility . The Congress had a strong youth base but there is no motivational support from the party.” Adding that the decision to quit the party was taken with a "heavy heart", he added, "Year after year, the party is breaking and getting more disorganised. Compared to the performance in the 2017 Assembly polls, it has cut a sorry figure due to faulty ticket distribution and sending away strong leaders of GPCC to other states . They are morally breaking the cadre." Responding to the comments, state Congress spokesperson Dr Manish Doshi said, "The Congress has given tickets for Lok Sabha, Assembly as well as Municipality elections to Naran Rathwa, Sangram Rathwa, and Dharmendra Patel. When we had the power, we gave them respect and opportunities and they won because of the hard work of Congress workers. But what was their reason to give it up and turn to the BJP? They will have to answer the voters why they chose the BJP that has been suppressing tribals for years."
