Amid rumours of joining BJP, Alpesh Thakor meets Gujarat Deputy CM Nitin Patel

Gujarat MLA Alpesh Thakor, who had quit Congress ahead of the Lok Sabha elections in 2019, met with Deputy CM Nitinbhai Patel on Monday fuelling the rumors of him joining the BJP.

Thakor had resigned from the Congress in April after being pressurised by Gujarat Kshatriya Thakor Sena - an outfit he himself had established - to quit the party.

When Patel was asked about the rumours of Alpesh Thakor joining the BJP, he said, " doors of the party are open for anybody who wants to join." 

"We welcome everybody who wants to join us and follow the BJP ideology.", he said.

He had joined the Congress for the Gujarat Assembly poll in 2017 and won from Radhanpor seat in Patan district.

He emerged as a popular OBC leader in Gujarat after Hardik Patel launched an agitation for reservation in jobs and education for the Patidar Community.

Thakor had rallied OBC communities of Gujarat against the demand of the Patidar community.

However, his name was embroiled in the violence against migrant workers in Gujarat last year.

The violence started when a minor girl of the Thakor community was allegedly raped by a migrant labourer.