Image: IANS

Ahead of the Lok Sabha elections in 2024, Gujarat politics has been brewing a fresh soup of entries and exits of members of the legislative assembly (MLAs).

Bhupendra  Bhayani, one of the Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) five MLAs in Gujarat, announced his resignation on Dec 13 and declared his intention to join the BJP shortly.

The move comes after a meeting between Bhayani and CR Paatil, president of the BJP in Gujarat.

Bhayani formally tendered his resignation to speaker Shankar Chaudhary within the premises of the Gujarat Assembly.

In his statement following the resignation, he said, “Today, there is no post of even Leader of Opposition. And therefore, nobody raises pending issues in Gujarat. I want to do development work for the people and my constituency. And therefore, I have resigned.”

Bhayani, elected from the Visavadar constituency in Junagadh district, made the surprising move barely a year after the Assembly elections.

In December 2022, he organised a public meeting in his native village of Bhesan, Junagadh, to dispel rumours of his defection to the BJP.

With Bhayani’s departure, the AAP’s representation in the 182-member Gujarat Assembly now stands at just four MLAs.

Two years ago, Bhayani left the BJP to join the AAP. Reacting to the resignation, Isudan Gadhvi, president of AAP Gujarat, said, “It irks the BJP that AAP MLAs are doing their work with honesty. They are bagging opposition MLAs instead of serving people.”

Visavadar seat has not been a stronghold of the BJP as AAP got majority seats in the 2022 Gujarat Assembly elections.

On the other hand, with Bhayani’s exit, past controversies surrounding the politician have been the talk of the town.

(With inputs from IANS)

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