More than 20 thousand supporters of the former CM and ex-Union cabinet minister thronged at his resident to wish the now seemingly sidelined leader in Congress birthday greetings on his 72nd birthday.
More than 20 thousand supporters of former CM and ex-Union cabinet minister, Shankarsinh Vaghela thronged at his resident ‘Vasant Vagado’ to wish the now seemingly sidelined leader in Congress birthday greetings on his 72nd birthday on Thursday.
Speculations were rife that Vaghela, popularly known as ‘Bapu’ may be announcing his separation from Congress on his birthday, but nothing such happened, and his supporters, who were expecting this announcement as their return gift, returned empty-handed.
Though Vaghela didn’t speak specifically about his unhappiness with the party, he said, “I am ‘still’ with Congress and will not join BJP.” He further said, “I will continue to serve people and fight for their issues. If anybody wants to join me in my public movement, they are welcome.”
However, Vaghela’s birthday celebration was not merely a birthday party - there were many political equations under calculation. This was likened more as a power demonstration of Vaghela for a pressure building tactic on the Congress. It is known that after being defeat in the last general elections, Vaghela doesn’t hold any key post in the state Gujarat or in party’s national level body.
The aggressive Kshatriya leader is considered as only a leader in the contemporary times who can challenge Narendra Modi. Vaghela was one of the founder members of the Jan Sangh and the BJP in Gujarat. Number of hoardings were displayed across the places wishing the veteran leader a ‘happy birthday’, but the well-wishers’ names were missing from the hoardings.
Sources close to Vaghela indicated that he may announce his separation from the Congress party in last week of July or in the first half of August. The official reason for the separation would be cited that the main opposition party has missed several issues that could put the state government in a fix.
Vaghela celebrates his birthday every year in the same manner but this year it is seemed as a power demonstration. Various leaders from across the ranks were present in the function.
GPCC president Arjun Modhvadia, AICC general secretary Madhusudan Mistry, Congress MP Pravin Rashtrapal, former CM Dileep Parikh, former GPCC president Siddharth Patel, and Narhari Amin were among those who were present on the occasion. Several senior members of Bharatiya Kisan Sangh were also present in the function.
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