Noted turncoat Soma Patel leaves Congress ahead of LS polls
Updated: Apr 11th, 2024
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| Soma Patel resigns from Congress |
In another setback for the Congress party before the Lok Sabha elections, former MP and MLA Soma Patel, having a vivid turncoat political past, has again resigned from the party.
He submitted his resignation to Gujarat state Congress president Shaktisinh Gohil.
In his resignation, he cited personal reasons for leaving the party. Patel, a member of the local Talpada Koli community, is speculated to contest elections as an independent candidate.
He wrote in his resignation, “I, Koli Somabhai Patel, former MP from Surendranagar and former MLA from Limbdi, resign from the primary membership of the Congress party. I request that this resignation be accepted.”
It is noteworthy that Patel sent out his resignation to the party’s senior leader, Amit Chavda, and Surendranagar Congress committee president, Naushad Solanki.
Soma Patel, a prominent figure in Surendranagar politics, contested the stronghold seat in 1989 from the BJP and was victorious for the first time.
After that, in the 1991 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP again gave a ticket to Soma Patel, who secured a victory.
He remained victorious in this seat twice thereafter. In the 2004 general elections, he was again entrusted by the BJP, and he won his party another seat.
However, after this, Patel switched sides and joined the Congress party.
Soma Patel’s turncoat past
Congress fielded Patel in the 2009 general elections from the Surendranagar constituency, where he secured another victory. Patel was fielded from the Limbdi assembly seat in the 2012 elections while being a sitting MP.
He defeated Kiritisinh Rana and became an MLA.
To maintain his membership in parliament, Soma was made to resign as an MLA by the Congress party.
In the Limbdi bye elections, Patel arranged for his son to bag a ticket for the seat. However, he suffered a loss against Kiritisinh.
Patel was re-elected as Limbdi MLA in the 2017 assembly elections. However, he later resigned from his MLA seat in 2019.
Out of social pressure, Patel switched sides and filed his nomination as an independent candidate from Wadhwan, before withdrawing it and joining the BJP.
Patel also resigned as MLA from Limbdi before the Rajya Sabha elections in 2020, over which the state Congress faction suspended him.
Now actively involved in politics again, he was recently seen at the Congress office. During this time, he said, “Congress is withdrawing my suspension. I will never go to the BJP.”
At present, on the brink of the general elections, Patel has again resigned from the Congress.
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