The party is also preparing the ground for initiating disciplinary action against Alpesh Thakor.
A day after Radhanpur MLA Alpesh Thakor announced that he was quitting all posts in the Congress, the party got into damage control mode to minimise the impact of the development on its performance in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in the north Gujarat seats of Banaskantha, Sabarkantha, Patan, and Mehsana.
Sources said that the party leaders reached out to Thakor community leaders, including Vav MLA Geniben Thakor and Siddhpur MLA Chandan Thakor, and asked them to take steps to ensure the community stayed with the party in the polls. The Congress is also reaching out to other representatives of Thakor community in a bid to seek their support.
The party is also preparing the ground for initiating disciplinary action against Alpesh Thakor.
"We have sought a clarification from Alpesh Thakor for the allegations levelled by him against the party leadership. We are also examining the speeches made by him today while campaigning for a candidate of Thakor Sena in Banaskantha. Disciplinary action will be taken against him," said state Congress president Amit Chavda.
Party sources said that they were ready for Alpesh Thakor's exit from the party in view of his overtures to the BJP in the last few months.
"We had a plan B in anticipation of his exit, and are implementing it to prevent any potential loss to the party in the elections," a source said.
In the meanwhile, differences have erupted in the Thakor Sena over the developments.
Mehsana district Kshatriya Thakor Sena announced on Thursday that it was snapping ties with Alpesh. Its president Ramji Thakor accused Alpesh had misled the community.
"The Congress had given important positions to Alpesh, but he quit because of his secret understanding with the BJP," he alleged.
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 "Alpesh Thakor")
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