A day after former State Congress chief Arjun Modhwadia joined the ruling BJP after resigning as a legislator, another Congress MLA Arvind Ladani on Wednesday resigned from the Assembly and also the party, becoming the fourth legislator of the opposition outfit to quit in the last three months and giving a fresh jolt to it in the BJP-ruled State ahead of the Lok Sabha election.
The resignation by the first-time MLA from Manavadar in Junagadh district, who is set to join the BJP, comes on the eve of the entry of Congress’ Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra led by its Lok Sabha MP Rahul Gandhi in Gujarat.
Arvind Ladani submitted his resignation to Gujarat Assembly Speaker Shankar Chaudhary at the latter’s official residence in Gandhinagar, and later said it is necessary to be with the ruling party to develop his Assembly constituency.
With the fresh setback, the Congress strength in the 182-member House has come down to 13 from 17, just 15 months after the Assembly election were held in the State.
Earlier, one MLA from Aam Aadmi Party and one independent lawmaker also resigned to joined the ruling party in the State.
On Tuesday, Porbandar MLA Arjun Modhwadia joined the BJP a day after the had submitted his resignation resigned as a legislator and party positions on Monday.
Along with him, former legislator and working president of Gujarat Congress Ambarish Der also joined the BJP, returning to his original party that he had quit to join the Congress in 2017.
Earlier, two other legislators C.J. Chavda and Chirag Patel and one Rajya Sabha member and former Union Minister Naran Rathwa also joined the saffron party ahead of the Lok Sabha election.
