Gujarat Assembly Election 2017: Congress leader Vijay Kella resigns in major blow to Rahul Gandhi; likely to join BJP

In a major setback for Rahul Gandhi ahead of Gujarat Assembly Elections, senior Congress leader Vijay Kella submitted his resignation to the Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee on Wednesday. Kella was miffed over the party giving prominence to a group of caste and community leaders over loyal workers who he claimed were being “ignored”. In his resignation letter, a copy of which is with Firstpost, reveals that former Congress’ relief committee president stated that the Congress was is in a ‘deplorable condition’ and hence he wanted to end his association with the party. The relief committee looks after relief operations during floods and other disasters.   According to TV9 Gujarati, apart from Kella, Congress general secretary Abhay Rajput also resigned. However, Firstpost was unable to independently verify Rajput’s resignation. Kella said party vice-president Rahul Gandhi meets only a handful of people and does not take along workers with him. Kella, who in the past unsuccessfully fought election from the Maninagar Assembly segment, sent his resignation letter to Gujarat Congress president Bharatsinh Solanki. Kella said he was not happy with the way three leaders, Patidar quota stir spearhead Hardik Patel, OBC leader Alpesh Thakor, and Dalit activist Jignesh Mevani were being given prominence by the Opposition party ahead of the next month’s Assembly polls. He said many loyal party workers were being “ignored” and these three leaders being given prominence. “(Bharatsinh) Solanki does not understand anything and Rahul Gandhi does not meet party workers. He meets only a handful of people. He should have taken all party workers together rather than giving prominence to Patel, Mevan, and Thakor and mentioning them in his speeches,” Kella told PTI. Asked about his future plans, Kella told the media that he is likely to join the BJP in the next few days. In his letter, Kella said he has been associated with the Congress for the last 38 years. He said the Congress is waging its “last fight for existence” in the state by setting aside its “ideology and party loyalists”. “(Former Congress chief minister) Madhavsinh Solanki’s KHAM (Kshatriya-Harijan-Adivasi-Muslim) theory had damaged the party. Today, Gujarat cannot be won by revisiting the same theory,” he said in his resignation letter. The KHAM formula, successfully applied by Solanki, revolved around wooing Kshatriya, Harijan, Adivasi and Muslim community members to come to power. This news comes after Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi’s three-day visit to BJP stronghold in north Gujarat on Saturday , followed by his visit to the Veer Meghmaya temple, sacred to the members of the Dalit vankar community. Later, Rahul also visited Khodiyar Maa temple and Maa Bahuchar temple. Rahul concluded his three-day visit on Monday and also attended events in Patan and Mehsana districts in north Gujarat. Rahul, who has been campaigning in the region since Saturday, earlier completed similar sojourns in Saurashtra (west Gujarat), central Gujarat and south Gujarat. With inputs from agencies