In a severe jolt to the Congress party ahead of the state Assembly elections, Gujarat Congress MLA Ashvin Kotwal on Tuesday resigned from the party and joined BJP citing ‘injustice.’ Tribal leader and three-time MLA from the Khedbrahma seat in Sabarkantha district, Ashvin Kotwal handed over his resignation from the state Assembly to Speaker Nimaben Acharya before leaving the Congress party.
Kotwal noted that he resigned from the Congress party’s primary membership before joining the BJP. Addressing a press conference the Tribal leader said he was ‘very upset’ with the party he was working for. He accused the party leadership of giving chances to those who were ‘loyal to the party’ instead of those who were ‘popular among the masses.’
“I was very upset with the party I was working for. I was not happy with Congress’s functioning. Instead of giving tickets to those who are popular among the masses, the party leadership used to favour only those who remained loyal to them. I fear they can also deny me a ticket in future and because of such injustice, I am now joining the BJP,” he said.
Kotwal further lauded PM Modi and called him a ‘development man.’ “Modi is a development man and the country could never get such a development-oriented man. He has travelled from Kashmir to Kanyakumari and has made development in Gujarat’s Umargam village to Ambaji,” the tribal leader said.
“I firmly believe that tribal areas of Gujarat witnessed development under Modiji. He invited me to join the BJP in 2007 saying he needs dedicated people like me to work for the uplift of tribals. Though I did not join the BJP in 2007, I became a huge fan of Modiji since then,” he added.
Ashvin Kotwal was welcomed by Gujarat BJP president C R Paatil at a function that took place at the state BJP headquarters ‘Kamalam’ in Gandhinagar on May 3.
