Former Congress spokesman Rohan Gupta joined the BJP on Thursday. Mr. Gupta slammed the Congress for insulting “Sanatan Dharma” and said he was asked to keep quiet about the Ram Temple ceremony in Ayodhya. He followed another spokesman Gaurav Vallabh who also quit the party and joined the ruling party ahead of the general elections.
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Mr. Gupta and some other leaders joined the BJP in the presence of Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri and its national general secretary Vinod Tawde. He had resigned from the Congress last month a day after withdrawing from the electoral race from the Ahmedabad East Lok Sabha seat.
In his resignation letter, he blamed a leader in the communication wing of the party for insulting him. Slamming the Congress, a party he had been associated with for nearly 15 years, Mr. Gupta said it has become directionless and was full of contradictions, leading to loss of credibility. He cited the Congress’ staying away from the Ram temple consecration ceremony, opposition to the CAA and aligning with parties such as AAP to make his point.
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Mr. Gupta expressed his support for the BJP leadership’s agenda of a “Viksit Bharat” by 2047 and lauded Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision.
In the Gujarat Congress, Mr. Gupta was a controversial figure as his conduct with a majority of the leaders in the state unit was seen as very high handed. Party leaders said he had risen in prominence due to his proximity to late Congress leader Ahmed Patel. “He did not win the municipal election in 2010 in Ahmedabad and became a national leader due to his association with the late Ahmed Patel,” a Gujarat Congress leader said.
Mr. Gupta hails from a political family and his father Rajkumar Gupta was once a legislator from Ahmedabad and held various positions in the party.