In a jolt to the Congress ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, its senior MLA in Gujarat C.J. Chavda on January 19 resigned from the Assembly membership, an official said, reducing the opposition party's strength in the house to 15.
Mr. Chavda was elected from Vijapur in Mehsana district in the December 2022 Assembly polls, which were swept by the ruling BJP.
The three-time MLA submitted his resignation to Speaker Shankar Chaudhary in Gandhinagar in the morning, the official of the State Assembly said without elaborating further.
Mr. Chavda was first elected to the Assembly from the Gandhinagar constituency in 2002. The senior leader was elected in 2012 from Gandhinagar North and was chief whip of the opposition party till 2022.
Mr. Chavda changed his seat in 2022 and was elected on a Congress ticket from Vijapur.
He was one of the 17 Congress MLAs who were elected in 2022 in Gujarat, which has a 182-member Assembly.
Earlier, Congress MLA from Khambhat in Anand district, Chirag Patel, had also resigned from the Assembly.
The strength of the Congress has been reduced to 15 in the Assembly due to the twin resignations.
