Five of the eight MLAs of the Congress who had resigned from the Assembly ahead of the Rajya Sabha elections in Gujarat joined the BJP on on Saturday.
They are J.V. Kakadia, Jitu Chaudhary, Pradhuymansinh Jadeja, Akshay Patel and Brijesh Merja. Except Jitu Chaudhary, the others are the first-time legislators, having won in the December, 2017 election.
Also read |Congress suffers Rajya Sabha setback in Gujarat as four MLAs resign
A total of eight Congress MLAs resigned from the Assembly in the run-up to the Rajya Sabha elections for four seats. The BJP won three seats, though it did not have the number, while the Congress could send only one of its candidates to the Rajya Sabha. The Opposition party’s strength in the Assembly came down from 73 to 65 after the eight MLAs resigned, paving the way for the victory of the BJP’s third candidate.
The former lawmakers were inducted into the BJP at a press briefing in Gandhinagar.
Asked whether the BJP would field all of them in their constituencies in the byelections, BJP State president Jitu Waghani said it was yet to be decided.
