Another Congress MLA quits party: Two Gujarat Congress MLAs join BJP

With this, the total strength of Congress in Gujarat Assembly has reduced to 71.

Both Sabariya and Dharaviya alleged that they have quit the Congress because of “internal fighting” in the party, and due to the “development oriented politics of the BJP under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah”.

Read | After Asha Patel, Cong MLA Jawahar Chavda and Parshottam Sabariya quit; party strength down to 72

Sabariya, who is on bail for taking bribe from accused in an irrigation scam in October last year, said that he has joined the BJP of his own volition and not under any pressure. “I have joined BJP only because of the party’s development oriented ideology,” Sabariya said, denying any pressure of the criminal case pending against him which was reportedly exposed by former BJP MLA from Dhrangadhra and former minister Jayanti Kavadiya.

Sabariya, who belongs to the Koli community, said that the criminal case against him is a legal matter and “it should not be clubbed with his decision to join the BJP”. “The law will take its own course. I am out on bail, and I am confident that I will prove my innocence in the case,” Sabariya said, while refusing to call the case a political vendetta by the BJP.

“The reason for quitting the Congress is internal dissension in the party because of which I was unable to work. I have taken this step to give voice to the issues of public and for their development…I will remain with BJP for the rest of my life,” he added.

Dharaviya, on the other hand, said that the BJP was his “gotra” and that he has come back to his roots. He added that in the last Lok Sabha elections in 2014, he was unhappy with the BJP. “Under some circumstances, Raghavjibhai (Patel) joined the BJP. And the Congress wanted to have an able candidate who can win (Assembly) election against Raghavjibhai. I did not demand a ticket from the Congress. Since I was a man in public life, I thought of trying to serve the people myself. And thefore, I fought the Assembly election,” Dharaviya said.

“After joining the Congress, I realised that it is a party of ‘parivarvaad’ which is looting the country. Threre is nothing like interest of the country or of the state in it. There was a lot of infighting among the state-level leaders in it,” he added.

Read | Five MLAs’ exit won’t affect performance, will emerge stronger: Gujarat Congress  

Dharaviya claimed that he did not join BJP for power or money, and added that he would not fight the Lok Sabha election.

Dharaviya, who has studied till Class VI, runs a business of manufacturing and supplying of brass parts and has an office in Delhi. The 49-year-old politician, who belongs to Dalvadi or Sathwara community, had defected to the Congress in the run up to the Assembly election in 2017 and had defeated Raghavji Patel in a battle of prestige. Patel’s defeat at the hands of Dharaviya from the Assembly seat, dominated by Patidars, had come a few months after the former quit the Congress and defected to the BJP.

Before Dharaviya and Sabariya, three more Congress MLAs — Kunvarji Bavaliya (Jasdan), Asha Patel (Unjha ) and Javahar Chavda (Manavadar) — have resigned from the Assembly as well as the party to join the BJP. Bavaliya and Chavda have been made cabinet ministers.

With these exits and disqualification of Congress MLA from Talala, Bhagabhai Barad, in a case of illegal mining, the total strength of Congress in the 182-member house has been reduced from 77 to 71.