Ahmedabad: In a huge setback to the Congress party, its senior leader in Gujarat Narhari Amin on Thursday joined BJP along with his supporters.
Gujarat Chief Minister and hardline BJP leader Narendra Modi has welcomed Amin’s entry into the saffron party.
“I welcome Amin and his supporters in BJP,” Modi tweeted in his reaction to the development.
Modi, who had wrested control of the prestigious Gujarat Cricket Association (GCA) from Amin, will induct him into the party. A BJP leader said Amin might be accommodated as a vice president of the GCA. Amin had quit Congress after being denied party ticket to contest assembly polls due in the state this month.
The rebel leader had then indicated joining the state's ruling BJP.
Amin, who wields a sizable clout in Patel community, will be a prize catch for BJP, given the challenge it is facing in Saurashtra region where former chief minister and Gujarat Parivartan Party (GPP) president Keshubhai Patel has come out all-guns-blazing against Narendra Modi government.
Amin resigned from the party on Tuesday along with his six supporters.
“I have been working for the party for the last 25 years, but the party high command has not appreciated my hard work and loyalty,” Amin had told reporters.
The Congress said its decision was based on its criteria of not fielding anyone who lost two consecutive polls in the state. Amin had lost the assembly polls in 1998, 2002 and 2007 from Sabarmati and Matar assembly segments.
With Agency Inputs
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