(LiveMint)
Former Gujarat chief minister and ex-Congress leader Shankersinh Vaghela has decided to open a new political front by joining Jan Vikalp, a party recently formed by his supporters in the poll-bound state. Gujarat’s political narrative has so far been defined by its bipolar contests between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress and previous attempts to form a third front have not been very successful.
Addressing a press conference in Gandhinagar on Tuesday, Vaghela said it was a myth that an alternative force cannot be successful in Gujarat. Jan Vikalp was the ‘people’s alternative’ to the voters of Gujarat who are fed up with BJP and Congress, he said, adding that the new front will contest all 182 assembly seats and support independent candidates who register with the party for elections due by December. Jan Vikalp will launch its political campaign on 21 September from Gujarat’s Ambaji temple. Vaghela said the party will not make any personal attacks on rival party leaders and added that its campaign will be positive.
In August, Vaghela and seven MLAs were expelled from Congress after they voted in favour of the rival BJP candidate during the Rajya Sabha elections. He had however announced his decision to quit the Congress party back in July, which was followed by as many as 13 Congress MLAs quitting and joinging the BJP in Gujarat. The defectors included Congress chief whip Balvantsinh Rajput, who is a relative of Vaghela’s.
