By IANS
Ahmedabad : One of the two Congress legislators in Gujarat who had switched to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) barely a week ago has returned to the Congress fold, dashing hopes of the ruling party of large-scale defections from the opposition ahead of the elections.
Shankar Varli, who represents the Umbergaon constituency in south Gujarat, declared Friday that he was staying back in the Congress.
Varli and Manish Gilitwala, who represents the Surat east constituency, had made their intentions of joining the BJP clear when they participated in a fishermen’s convention organised by the state government a week ago, which was also attended by Chief Minister Narendra Modi.
The Congress, which is hoping that five suspended rebels of the BJP would cross over to its fold, lost no time in issuing show-cause notices to Varli and Gilitwala for attending the convention and making laudatory remarks about the chief minister.
But Varli declared Friday he attended the convention because it was an official function of the state government and affirmed he had no intention of joining the BJP.
Leader of Opposition Arjun Modhvadia said the party would accept him back, provided he regretted his action in his reply to the show-cause notice. He also said that as Varli had yet not been suspended there was no question of his “re-joining” the party.
However, there was no word yet from Gilitwala.