Trouble for Morva Hadaf MLA Bhupendra Khant over tribal certificate

Following three complaints against him, newly-elected legislator from Gujarat's Scheduled Tribes reserved Morva Hadaf seat, Bhupendra Khant, landed in trouble as the review committee of the Gujarat Tribal Development Commission (GTDC) on Friday cancelled his caste certificate.

Bhupendra Khant was with Congress before the 2017 polls, but had to contest as an independent following his party offering the Morva Hadaf seat to an outfit of its ally and tribal strongman Chhotu Vasava's Bharatiya Tribal Party (BTP) as part of a seat-sharing agreement. Khant comfortably won the seat after defeating BJP's Vikramsinh Dindor by a margin of over 4,000 votes, while BTP's Alpesh Damor came in third.

Khant, who later met the Congress president Rahul Gandhi during his visit to the state and officially re-joined the party, was slated to take oath of office during first session of 14th Legislative Assembly next week.

There were two complaints registered against Khant with the GTDC prior to the 2017 state assembly elections and there was one complaint in 2014 against him.

"This is what BJP does when it loses the elections. After Khant announced his support for the Congress, now BJP is acting vindictive. We will explore all legal options against this decision," Manish Doshi, Congress spokesperson, said.

Khant on his part said that he would pursue legal options available to him.

--IANS

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