Special Correspondent
Former spokesperson of Gujarat Congress Jayrajsinh Parmar on Tuesday joined the BJP along with his supporters in Gandhinagar a few days after resigning from the party alleging that the grassroots workers were being neglected in the party.
While joining the BJP, he said he had joined without any condition or expectation.
Mr. Parmar quit the Congress on February 17, claiming that the party, where he spent 37 years, had sidelined him and other persons like him who rose from the grassroots.
On Monday, former Congress legislator Hìrabhai Patel from Lunavada also joined the BJP.
Mr. Parmar, along with his hundreds of supporters, joined the BJP in the presence of Gujarat party unit president CR Paatil and other senior leaders at the State BJP headquarters ‘Kamalam’ in the capital city.
“I was with Congress for as many as 37 years. Despite facing adverse conditions, I had worked with total commitment for the party. For me, politics is a means to serve the people,” Mr. Parmar said addressing workers who accompanied him to the BJP office.
“I am not joining the BJP with an expectation of getting something in return. I have joined the BJP to fill up what’s missing,” he said, adding he would work as a worker of the party.
In the Congress, Mr. Parmar was the district panchayat president in Mehsana and was a contender for the Assembly ticket for the OBC Thakor–dominated Kheralu seat in Mehsana district.
Mr. Paatil welcomed Mr. Parmar into the BJP and said he will be given a suitable post in the party if he is not interested in fighting elections.
“Many senior BJP leaders believed we should take Parmar in the party fold. Parmar told me clearly that he did not have any expectations and doesn’t want to fight elections. But there are many other positions in the party. Now, the party will decide about his next responsibility,” Mr. Paatil told the party workers.
