Gujarat Congress MLA Asha Patel quits ahead of polls
Ahmedabad, Feb 2 : In a jolt to the Congress in Gujarat ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, Congress leader Asha Patel resigned Saturday, accusing the party of factionalism and divisive politics.
Patel, member of the Legislative Assembly from Unjha in Mehsana district, resigned as legislator and also quit the party.
In her resignation letter to party president Rahul Gandhi, she said, "On one hand Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given 10 per cent quota for Economically Weaker Section, while the Congress is trying to create a rift between different castes here."
She submitted her resignation as MLA to Assembly Speaker Rajendra Trivedi in Gandhinagar Saturday morning. The Speaker accepted the resignation, sources said.
Unjha is one of the seven Assembly segments within the Mahesana Lok Sabha constituency, currently held by the BJP. Of the seven Assembly segments, the BJP holds four while the Congress holds three, including Unjha.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's hometown Vadnagar comes under the Unjha constituency.
Asha Patel had won the election in 2017 against Narayan Lalu Patel after the Patel quota agitation roiled the state.
In her letter to Gandhi, she said she had resigned from the party "due to prevalent infighting and because the leadership has been ignoring me".
Her representations about the state of affairs in Gujarat Congress were not heeded for the last one year, she claimed.
Asked whether she would join the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Patel said she would consult the people of her constituency before taking any decision.
State Congress chief Amit Chavda said Patel seemed to have taken the decision for "personal gains".
"Till yesterday, she had not made any representation to the party," Chavda claimed. Last year, senior Congress MLA Kunvarji Bavaliya switched sides and joined the BJP. He was made a minister in the state cabinet.
In the 2017 assembly elections, the BJP had won 99 seats in the 182-member house while the Congress bagged 77.
With these two exits, the opposition party's numbers have fallen to 75, while BJP's tally has increased to 100 after Bavaliya won a by-poll from Jasdan in December.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Rickelton's ton in vain as SRH beat MI by 6 wickets
Mumbai (PTI): Ryan Rickelton's whirlwind unbeaten ton was overshadowed by Heinrich Klaasen's unbeaten 65 as Sunrisers Hyderabad defeated Mumbai Indians by six wickets in an IPL match here on Wednesday.
Chasing an imposing 244-run target, Travis Head (76 off 30) and Abhishek Sharma (45 off 24) shared 129 runs for the opening wicket to set the platform for SRH.
Klaasen (65 not out off 30 balls) then displayed his all-round hitting abilities to guide SRH home with the help of Nitish Kumar Reddy (21) and Salil Arora (30 not out off 10) in 18.4 overs.
Earlier, Rickelton's knock powered MI to 243 for five.
MI rode on a 93-run stand between Rickelton (123 not out off 55 balls) and Will Jacks (46 off 22) in 7.1 overs for the opening stand to power the side.
MI skipper Hardik Pandya scored a valuable 31 off 15 balls before being dismissed.
Praful Hinge (2/54), Eshan Malinga (1/29), Sakib Hasan (1/39) and Nitish Kumar Reddy (1/31) were the wicket-takers for SRH.
Brief Scores:
Mumbai Indian: 243 for 5 in 20 overs (Ryan Rickelton 123 not out; Praful Hinge 2/54).
Sunrisers Hyderabad: 249 for 4 in 18.4 overs (Travis Head 76, Heinrich Klaasen 65 not out; AM Ghazanfar 2/51).
