Thakor, another former Congress MLA set to join BJP

Former Congress MLAs Alpesh Thakor and Dhavlsinh Zala are set to join the ruling BJP in Gujarat.

Zala indicated this after a meeting of the Thakor Sena, an outfit founded by Alpesh Thakor, Monday here.

Both of them had apparently cross-voted in the Rajya Sabha polls in Gujarat held on July 5 and then resigned as Congress MLAs.

"A meeting of the core committee of our Thakor Sena was held today in which they gave permission to Alpesh Thakor and me to join the BJP," Zala told reporters after the meet.

Alpesh Thakor was not present at the meeting.

"Now, Alpesh Thakor has been authorised to negotiate with BJP leaders and fix a date for our joining that party, Zala further said.

Alpesh Thakor (43) had emerged as a prominent OBC leader after the Patel quota agitation of Gujarat in 2015. He had formed the Thakor Sena, an outfit of his OBC Thakor caste.

Before the December 2017 state elections, he had joined the Congress and later got elected from the Radhanpur assembly constituency in Patan district.

However, he soon fell out with the Congress leadership and had resigned from all organisational posts before the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, but stayed in the opposition party.

Alpesh Thakor and Zala had apparently voted for BJP candidates S Jaishankar (foreign minister) and Jugalji Thakor in the Rajya Sabha polls instead of Congress nominees. Both of them had quit as Congress MLAs just after voting.

Both the BJP candidates had emerged victorious.

Zala was elected from Bayad in Sabarkantha district in the 2017 assembly polls.

Speculation was rife in Gujarat that Alpesh Thakor will join the BJP before the April-May 2019 Lok Sabha polls. However, that did not happen.