Gujarat Congress MLA Arvind Ladani on Wednesday resigned from the Assembly and also the party, becoming the fourth legislator of the opposition outfit to quit in the last three months and giving a fresh jolt to it in the BJP-ruled state ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.
The resignation by the first-time MLA from Manavadar in Junagadh district, who is set to join the BJP, comes on the eve of the entry of Congress' 'Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra' led by its Lok Sabha MP Rahul Gandhi in Gujarat and two days after party stalwart Arjun Modhwadia walked out of the organisation.
Ladani tendered his resignation to Gujarat Assembly Speaker Shankar Chaudhary at the latter's official residence in Gandhinagar, and later said it is necessary to be with the ruling party to develop his Assembly constituency.
The Speaker's office confirmed that Chaudhary has accepted Ladani's resignation. With the fresh setback, the Congress strength in the 182-member House has come down to 13, just 15 months after the Assembly polls were held in the state. After submitting his resignation, Ladani said he will join the BJP "very soon" and fight the by-poll from Manavadar if the ruling party nominates him from the seat.
"I have decided to resign as an MLA because people of my constituency were of the opinion that it is necessary to be with the ruling party to develop the area. I am also of the opinion that it makes a difference if you are a part of the government. I will join the BJP very soon and am ready to fight the bypoll, too, if the party gives me a ticket" Ladani told reporters after putting in his papers. "I have also resigned from primary membership of the Congress party," he said.
Ladani had defeated BJP candidate Jawahar Chavda, a Congress turncoat, in the 2022 Assembly polls by a slender margin of 3,400 votes. Ladani was one of the 17 Congress MLAs who won in 2022 in an election swept by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Ladani is the fourth Congress legislator who has bid adieu to the party in a span of just three months. Just two days ago, senior Congress MLA and former Gujarat Congress president Arjun Modhwadia had tendered his resignation from all posts and joined the BJP on Tuesday. Prior to him, Khambhat MLA Chirag Patel and Vijapur MLA CJ Chavda had also joined the BJP after quitting as Congress legislators.
Former MLA Ambarish Der, also an ex-state working president of the Congress, and Rajya Sabha MP Naran Rathva, too, severed their ties with the Grand Old Party and joined the saffron outfit recently. Modhwadia and Der had expressed anguish over the Congress's decision to "boycott" the Lord Ram temple consecration ceremony held in Ayodhya on January 22.
The main opposition party, once a formidable political force in Gujarat, is facing exodus of leaders and legislators at a time when Rahul Gandhi is set to enter the state on Thursday with his 'Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra', which will remain here till March 10. The string of setbacks for the Congress has come when the party is preparing to contest the Lok Sabha polls, likely to be held in April-May, in Gujarat in an alliance with the AAP.
In the last national elections, the BJP white-washed the Congress by winning all the 26 Lok Sabha constituencies in the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
