Alpesh Thakor, OBC leader and former Congress MLA, who came into prominence in 2017 Gujarat assembly elections, met the Gujarat Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel today. Speculations have been rife of him joining the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) after this meeting.
In April, Thakor had resigned from all the party posts he held and while resigning, he claimed that he was betrayed and discriminated within the party. Thakor, who also heads Thakor Sena, a community outfit, was Congress secretary in-charge of Bihar and was a member of all key committees of the Gujarat Congress for the Lok Sabha polls.
The Congress had approached the Gujarat Assembly secretariat, seeking the expulsion of disgruntled leader Alpesh Thakor as a legislator for his “anti-party activities”. Thakor had resigned from all the posts he held in the Congress, ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.
The appeal seeking his expulsion as MLA was submitted to the Assembly secretariat by chief whip of the Congress legislative party Ashwin Kotwal and senior party MLA Baldevji Thakor.
According to Jagat Thakore, member of Thakore Sena, the Congress has been side-lining the Thakore Sena in the selection of candidates for the Lok Sabha elections as well as in taking important decisions.
Congress sources said Alpesh was disgruntled after the party denied him a ticket to contest the Patan Lok Sabha seat, which he claimed he could easily win, and chose veteran party hand and former MP Jagdish Thakore.
