Ahmedabad, Jan 29: Former Gujarat Chief Minister Shankarsinh Vaghela was Tuesday inducted into the Nationalist Congress Party here in the presence of its chief Sharad Pawar and made the party's national general secretary.
Pawar said NCP will use Vaghela's political experience and mass following in Gujarat as well as for the party's national development.
"When democracy is under threat in India under BJP rule, I have decided to join the NCP to fight against BJP and strengthen the hands of anti-BJP forces," Vaghela said after joining Pawar's party.
When queried whether he would fight the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls, Vaghela said it was for his party to decide.
Speaking on the occasion, Pawar said, "I have asked Vaghela to not only concentrate on Gujarat but also contribute towards national development of NCP. He will be national general secretary of the party. In Gujarat we want to strengthen anti-BJP forces and by bringing in Vaghela, we have tried to do that."
His entry into the NCP can lead to a three-corner fight on a few Lok Sabha seats in Gujarat in case the Congress and the NCP fail to reach an alliance against the ruling BJP, political observers said.
All 26 Lok Sabha seats in Gujarat are currently in the BJP's kitty.
The NCP and Congress had fought 2017 Assembly polls separately with the former managing to win just one seat in the 182-member House.
The 78-year-old Kshatriya strongman had left the Congress before the 2017 Gujarat Assembly elections, after he and a few of his supporter MLAs voted against Ahmed Patel, the Congress candidate for the Rajya Sabha, and backed BJP nominee Balwantsinh Rajput.
Vaghela, however, did not join the ruling BJP and put up Independent candidates in the state Assembly elections held in December 2017, all of whom lost.
The former Gujarat chief minister recently toured various places, including Delhi, declaring that he would work for the defeat of the BJP-led government at the Centre.
Vaghela started his career with the BJP, but in 1996 engineered a split in the saffron party after he was denied chief ministership a year earlier in favour of Keshubhai Patel.
Vaghela, in 1996, became the state's chief minister with outside support from the Congress.
He also served as Union textile minister in the Manmohan Singh government at the Centre as well as Gujarat Congress president and leader of opposition in the state Assembly.
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Former Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy has revealed that the alliance between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Janata Dal (Secular) [JDS] is not a recent development, citing an unofficial understanding between the two parties in Mysore since 2014.
Kumaraswamy made these remarks during a media interaction following a tulabhara seve ceremony at the Sri Nanjundeshwara Swamy Temple in Nanjangud, Mysuru, on Thursday.
Addressing the existing harmony between the party cadres, Kumaraswamy described the pre-existing unofficial treaty in Mysore and emphasized that there was no discontent among them.
Responding to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's statement predicting Kumaraswamy's defeat in Mandya, Kumaraswamy questioned Siddaramaiah's credibility as an astrologer and asserted that the people would ultimately decide the outcome of the elections.
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Referring to Siddaramaiah's labeling of him as a migrant, Kumaraswamy retorted by pointing out Siddaramaiah's own transition to the Congress party and his criticism of original Congress members. Kumaraswamy asserted his Kannadiga identity and his right to contest elections anywhere, including Mandya, where he is set to compete against his old friend.
“Siddaramaiah has called me a migrant. Isn’t he a migrant in Congress? Hasn’t he trashed other original Congress people and enjoying power? I am a Kannadiga. I can contest anywhere. I must compete with my old friend in Mandya this time. My fate is so. Sometimes our own friends turn against us. Let it be so”, Kumaraswamy said.
Regarding the Mekedatu project, Kumaraswamy defended former Prime Minister H D Devegowda and questioned the moral authority of the Congress party to criticize him. Regarding the JDS's support for Sumalatha, Kumaraswamy emphasized the need to move beyond political differences and recalled his close association with her late husband, Ambarish. He also expressed willingness to meet Sumalatha if necessary.