Former legislator of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Gujarat, Bhupendra Bhayani on Saturday joined the ruling party BJP almost two months after resigning as a member of the State Legislative Assembly.
Mr. Bhayani, a first time MLA from Visavadar seat in Saurashtra, had resigned from the Assembly and the party in December last year and announced that he would join the BJP.
On Saturday, he and his supporters joined the saffron party in the presence of State BJP president C.R. Patil at a function in Junagadh district.
Another former BJP MLA Arvind Ladani, who quit the party and contested as an independent candidate from Keshod seat in the last assembly polls, also returned to the saffron party on Saturday.
“This is my homecoming because I was with the BJP before being elected as an MLA from AAP. Our country is progressing under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. I am joining the BJP to develop my constituency, not to get a post or poll ticket,” Mr. Bhayani told media persons after he joined the BJP.
He expressed confidence that irrespective of the candidate the BJP chooses for the by-election, the people of Visavadar will make the saffron party victorious with a huge margin.
However, local sources have suggested that he would be the BJP candidate in the by-election for Visavadar Assembly seat.
He was one of the five MLAs of the AAP elected in the 2022 Assembly election, which the BJP won with a thumping majority by bagging 156 seats in the 182-member Assembly. It was the first time the AAP won seats in the Assembly election in Gujarat.
So far, two Congress MLAs have also resigned as legislators and are likely to join the BJP.
