A year and a half after he quit the Congress and a few months before the Lok Sabha election, former Gujarat Chief Minister Shankarsinh Vaghela, 78, joined the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) on Tuesday.
Inducting the veteran leader into the party here, NCP chief Sharad Pawar said Mr. Vaghela would play a crucial role in the party not only in Gujarat but also nationally, and he would be made a national general secretary.
Mr. Vaghela is likely to contest the Lok Sabha election from either Sabarkantha in north Gujarat or Panchmahal in central Gujarat.
“My joining the NCP is meant to strengthen anti-BJP forces ahead of the election because non-BJP parties will form the next government,” he said.
In 2017, a few months before the Gujarat Assembly election, Mr. Vaghela quit the Congress — along with several legislators, including his son Mahendrasinh Vaghela — staging a rebellion against Congress veteran Ahmed Patel during the Rajya Sabha election. However, he was isolated in the State politics after the election, with neither the BJP nor the Congress inclined to take him back. Mahendrasinh Vaghela joined the BJP after the Assembly election, but walked out. He is not affiliated to any party now.
