Seeing no prospects of ticket, ex-BJP MLA quits Congress

Former Gujarat BJP MLA Shamji Chauhan quit the Congress Thursday, claiming that the party cheated him by not offering Lok Sabha ticket from Surendranagar as promised.

The Congress has not announced its candidate for Surendranagar yet. However, local Congress MLAs Soma Patel and Rutvik Makwana are considered to be front-runners for the nomination.

Sensing that he stands no chance, Chauhan bid adieu to the party Thursday.

He had represented Chotila in Surendranagar district as a BJP MLA from 2012 to 2017.

After the BJP denied him ticket in the last Assembly polls, he joined the Congress in August2018.

"When I had joined the Congress, party leaders had promised that I will be given Lok Sabha ticket from Surendranagar. Even Makwana, after winning Assembly election, had promised that the party will give me ticket in 2019. But all of them stabbed me in the back. The Congress will have to pay the price for this breach of trust," Chauhan, who belongs to the Koli community, said.

He would decide future plans after consulting his supporters and community members, he said.

Responding to Chauhan's allegations, Makwana said personal aspirations of every party member can not be fulfilled.

"It is up to the party high-command to choose candidates for Lok Sabha. I do not have any role. And the parties choose only those who can win," he said.