Congress’s Gujarat MLAs Alpesh Thakor and Dhavalsinh Zala quit Gujarat Assembly minutes after voting in Rajya Sabha bypolls on Friday.“I joined Congress trusting Rahul Gandhi, but unfortunately he did nothing for us. We were insulted again & again. So, I have resigned from the post of Congress MLA,” Thakor, who had quit Congress just before Lok Sabha polls, told news agency.On who is voted for in the Rajya Sabha bypoll, OBC leader Thakor said that he followed his inner voice. “I kept the national leadership in mind. I considered which party has lost popular support, has betrayed us,” he added.Echoing a similar sentiment, Zala said: “People from Congress party were insulting us and people again and again. Leaders were not listening to small workers of the party. Considering everything, I have resigned from the post of Congress MLA”.Congress observer for the bypolls Ashwin Kotwal told ANI that the two leaders had cross-voted.Thakor, an MLA from Radhanpur in Patan district, had announced his resignation from the Congress at a press conference in April saying he was ‘ignored and insulted’ by the party. Dhavalsinh Zala, MLA from Bayad, was also present at the press conference.Both the leaders had later met state deputy chief minister Nitin Patel, triggering speculation that they may join the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.One candidate each from the BJP and Congress are in the fray for by-polls for the two Rajya Sabha seats in Gujarat. The BJP has fielded external affairs minister S Jaishankar and OBC leader Juglaji Thakor and the Congress has nominated Chandrika Chudasama and Gaurav Pandya for the seats.The by-polls on the two seats from Gujarat are being conducted after the BJP’s sitting Rajya Sabha MPs Amit Shah and Smriti Irani resigned following their election to the Lok Sabha in May from Gandhinagar and Amethi, respectively.The BJP – with 104 MLAs in the 182-member assembly – looks set to win both the seats in the by polls. The Congress has 71 MLAs. Out of the total 182 MLAs, 175 legislators are qualified to exercise their franchise this time.
