“I am a loyal soldier of AAP, won’t join BJP’ : Bhupat Bhayani

Ahmedabad (Gujarat): While speculations are rife on the newly elected MLAs—independents and AAP—may join the ruling BP in the state in the coming days, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Gujarat posted a video message of its Visavadar MLA Bhupat Bhayani stating “I am a committed soldier of AAP and I will always remain loyal to the party. The speculations in the media are far from the truth”

At a time when the Aam Aadmi Party’s poster boys in Gujarat — from chief ministerial candidate Isudan Gadhvi to state president Gopal Italia to Patidar face Alpesh Kathiriya — lost the elections, five lesser-known faces have been left flying the party flag. Even as the party conducts a review of its bittersweet performance — it fell way short of expectations by being unable to supplant Congress as the second largest party — the challenge will be to keep the small band of legislators together.

Bhayani had triggered widespread speculation on Sunday that the electorate has given a resounding mandate to the BJP.

In Junagadh district’s Visavadar town, the AAP’s Bhupat Bhayani beat Harshad Ribadiya, who joined the BJP after quitting the Congress, by a margin of,7,063 votes. Bhayani said that he was a BJP member for five years, and served at both the taluka and panchayat level, and admitted he left the BJP after feeling ignored. “Despite my long tenure in the party, the BJP leaders failed to recognise my abilities, so I left to join the AAP.”

All the five AAP MLAs, though they are first-timers, are having their political histories with the BJP and Congress. Chaitar Vasava, the young MLA from the tribal-dominated Dediapada assembly constituency won the highest margin of 40,000 votes against the BJP candidate in the Narmada district.

The AAP Gujarat leadership is keeping a round-the-clock vigil on the five AAP MLAs to foil the attempts of the opposition parties like the Congress and BJP to lure the MLAs into their fold.

Congress leaders are also trying their best to get AAP and the three Independent MLAs to support the party for claiming the leader of opposition in the Gujarat Assembly. The Congress has 16 MLAs and the party is falling short to get the opposition leader in the assembly.