Gujarat assembly polls: Two former Congress leaders join BJP

India

oi-Madhuri Adnal

Ahmedabad,
Aug
17:
Nearly
two
weeks
after
resigning
from
the
Congress,
former
Gujarat
minister
Naresh
Raval
and
former
Rajya
Sabha
member
Raju
Parmar
joined
the
ruling
Bharatiya
Janata
Party
(BJP)
on
Wednesday,
months
ahead
of
the
state
Assembly
polls.
Both
the
leaders
were
associated
with
the
Congress
for
decades.

State
BJP
chief
C
R
Paatil
welcomed
them
into
the
party
by
offering
them
saffron
scarves
and
caps.
A
large
number
of
their
supporters
also
joined
the
ruling
party.

Parmar
was
Congress’s
Rajya
Sabha
member
from
Gujarat
for
three
terms
–
between
1988
and
2006.
A
prominent
leader
from
the
Dalit
community,
he
had
also
served
as
a
member
of
the
National
Committee
for
SC/ST.

Kejriwal
promises
free
and
good
education
if
AAP
elected
to
power
in
Gujarat

Raval,
a
three-term
MLA
representing
Vijapur
Assembly
seat
in
Mehsana,
had
served
as
the
minister
of
state
for
home
and
industry
minister
in
the
then
Congress
government
in
Gujarat.
He
had
won
the
Assembly
elections
in
1985,
1990
and
1998.

The
Assembly
elections
are
due
by
the
end
of
this
year.