Congress puts up brave front after losing two big names from Saurashtra

Gandhinagar, July 3: The Congress in Gujarat is trying to come to grips with the situation after losing another senior leader from Saurashtra, Kunwarji Bavalia, who joined the BJP and was sworn in as a cabinet minister on Tuesday. Some days back, it had lost another big name, Indranil Rajyaguru, who had resigned from Rajkot.

Kunwarji Bavaliya, the MLA from Jasdan Assembly constituency, formally joined the BJP on Tuesday at the party headquarters at Kamalam. Earlier he quit as a legislator and the Congress party. This is a second jolt in a fortnight when the grand old party, which grabbed considerable seats in the Saurashtra region after many years, lost Rajkot leader Indranil Rajyaguru, who also quit the party from all positions. Though Rajguru, who had lost out to Vijay Rupani during the Assembly elections last year, has not shown any inclination towards the BJP and said that he never will, the Jasdan MLA chose to join the ruling party. Sources said that it was the big position in the government that lured him to defect. Reacting to the defecting, Leader of the Opposition Paresh Dhanani said: "The Congress gave him everything he wanted. There was no such real issue due to which a party loyalist having a long association would defect. But his hunger for power lured him to join the saffron party. It is all there for the public to see. Wait for the by-elections, people who voted him to power because of Congress will give a befitting reply." (IANS)