Gujarat Congress loses another senior leader to BJP, 19th to resign in five years

The Gujarat Congress suffered a second setback in less than 24 hours after sitting MLA from Saurashtra and senior leader Bhagwan Barad joined BJP days ahead of the Assembly polls.

Barad, who represents Talala Assembly seat in Gir Somnath district, is considered an influential Ahir community leader. He became the 19th Congress MLA who jumped ship to BJP since 2017 Assembly polls when it won 77 seats.

Before joining BJP, Barad sent a resignation letter to state Congress president Jagdish Thakor and also resigned as an MLA before Gujarat Assembly speaker Nima Acharya.

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Earlier on Tuesday, veteran tribal leader and sitting MLA from Chhota Udepur, Mohansinh Rathva, also joined BJP.

Out of 19 MLAs, a majority of them are from OBC communities from Saurashtra, which have been helping the Congress retain its hold in rural areas. Most of them have joined the BJP.

Besides these MLAs, the Congress has also lost popular leaders like Hardik Patel, spokesperson Jayrajsinh Parmar, senior leader Himanshu Vyas, among others over the last few months.

"The defections were planned quite earlier while it's being done when elections are at home. It's all planned to keep the Congress on the backfoot," a BJP insider said.

If BJP sources are to be believed, another senior Congress MLA is likely to resign and join BJP. The Assembly polls are to be held in two phases on December 1 and 5.