The two had resigned as Congress MLAs after cross voting for BJP in the Rajya Sabha bye-elections for two seats in Gujarat on July 5.
Two weeks after resigning as Congress MLAs, Gujarat OBC leaders Alpesh Thakor and Dhavalsinh Zala on Thursday joined the BJP in Ahmedabad. The two had resigned as Congress MLAs after cross voting for BJP in the Rajya Sabha bye-elections for two seats in Gujarat on July 5.
While Thakor was an MLA from Radhanpur in Patan district, Zala represented in Assembly Bayad constituency in Aravalli district.
Both the Congress MLAs had resigned following the Rajya Sabha elections in which the two also went against the party whip and voted for the BJP candidates. Thakor had later launched a series of attack on the Congress saying that his vote was for honest national leadership. The 43-year-old MLA, who is one of the prominent leaders of the OBC community in Gujarat said he was unhappy with the Grand Old party since he first joined it in 2017.
The Congress had also moved a petition in the Gujarat high court over a disqualification application it had moved before the speaker.
Congress lost the case after the high court said that it cannot interfere in legislative procedures.
Earlier before his resignation, Alpesh had resigned from all party posts in the Congress. With the resignation, the Congress' strength in the house has come down to 69.
Nine seats now remain vacant in the Gujarat assembly. Besides Radhanpur and Bayad, vacated by Thakor and Zala respectively, four seats were left without a representative after the MLAs won the Lok Sabha polls and three other seats are empty after the MLAs were disqualified due to various reasons.
Tharad, Kheralu, Amraiwadi and Lunawada have been left with representatives after the sitting MLAs won the Lok Sabha election.
Talala, Morva Hadaf and Dwarka are empty after the MLAs were either by the speaker or the high court over one or the other reason.
Morva Hadaf fell vacant after independent MLA Bhupendra Khant was disqualified for submitting an invalid caste certificate for contesting the seat which was reserved for the ST Community.
Congress MLA Bhaga Barad from Talala was suspended after he was convicted in a mineral theft cast. The Supreme Court later stayed the by-election on the seat.
BJP MLA Pabubha Manek also had to give up his seat of Dwarka after the HC declared that his nomination was defective. Manek had later approached the SC which said the seat should not be declared vacant.
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