After being denied a ticket to contest the coming Assembly elections, senior Congress leader Narhari Amin on Thursday joined the Bharatiya Janata Party in the presence of Chief Minister Narendra Modi.
The former Deputy Chief Minister, who was denied a ticket under the Congress high command’s policy of not repeating candidates losing two consecutive elections, had fewer victories than losses in his political career.
But his one victory in a by-election in September 2001 on a Congress ticket was the last straw in the back of then Chief Minister Keshubhai Patel and paved the way for Mr. Modi to capture the top job in the State.
In a sense, Mr. Modi thus paid him back and took Mr. Amin, a Patel leader, in the party fold, though much to the chagrin of his own lieutenant and former Home Minister Amit Shah, who is Mr. Amin’s rival in Gujarat Cricket Association politics.
Welcoming Mr. Amin, Mr. Modi claimed that the Congress leader’s joining the BJP would provide a fillip to the ruling party and spell a total rout of the Congress.
Keywords: Narhari Amin, Gujarat, Gujarat Assembly polls, Congress, BJP
While Congress has thrown up its hands in Gujarat without even a
semblance of hope, its tactics are one with those in all states, even
where it is now ruling, few as these are. In its suicidal obsession
with the mere arithmetic required for power at the center, it has
surrendered space to regional forces to usurp whatever goodwill it
once commanded pan India. An outstanding example of this is Tamil
Nadu, where it could have occupied the space available towards the end
of the DMK's last regime, mired as DMK was in a host of troubles.
Instead, owing to its totally unwarranted and meek subservience to the
DMK, the party is now facing a wipe out in the state. It has lost Goa,
it is likely to similarly lose Rajasthan and Haryana. It is utterly
incapable of taking Karnataka,despite the BJP's pathetic plight.The
upheaval of the long entrenched Left in WB owed nothing to the
Congress but to Mamata. Soon, all it can boast of will only be "272"
garnered at great cost and a 'Minority' govt tag.
Please Email the Editor