Kandhal Jadeja, the only MLA of the NCP in the Gujarat Assembly, has resigned from the party after it tied up with the Congress for the upcoming state elections. Jadeja’s resignation also came after the NCP refused to give him the mandate to fight the polls from the Kutiyana seat in Porbandar. Jadeja has been winning the Gujarat Assembly elections from Kutiyana since 2012 and had a vote share of more than 50 per cent in the 2017 elections where he defeated both the BJP and Congress candidates. “Yes, he has resigned from the party. Not being given a ticket was cited as a reason,” said Jayant Boskey, Gujarat NCP chief. He said Jadeja had disobeyed the Nationalist Congress Party’s diktat during the Rajya Sabha polls and Presidential polls and had voted in support of the BJP candidate. Jadeja had already filed his nomination for upcoming polls as an NCP candidate from Kutiyana on November 11. On the same day, the NCP announced an alliance with the Congress party for three seats—Umreth, Naroda, and Devgadh Baria — and said its candidates contesting without a party mandate will be expelled for six years. During the announcement, Boskey had admitted that Jadeja was a strong NCP candidate from Kutiyana, and he will be supported only if Congress gives a “green signal.” Jadeja is the son of the former MLA Santokben Jadeja whose life inspired the film Godmother. Voting for the Gujarat Assembly polls will be conducted on December 1 and December 5 and counting will be held on December 8.
