Former Gujarat MLA Indranil Rajguru deserted the Aam Aadmi Party and joined the Congress party on Friday, claiming that the party is corrupt and that a lot of money comes to its office. Rajguru, in a strange allegation, also said that the Bharatiya Janata Party chose the Aam Aadmi Party’s chief ministerial candidate. This follows after AAP announced Isudan Gadhvi as its face for CM in the Gujarat elections.
In a press conference, Indranil Rajguru stated, “After I returned to Congress, AAP alleged I wanted to be CM face & demanded tickets for 15 people. CM face was pre-decided… I was told not to insist & that list comes from Kamalam (Gujarat BJP HQ) & they’ve to go with it.”
I also saw a lot of money coming & asked where is it from. Both CMs(Kejriwal & Mann)had come to Rajkot & it was then that I asked about it, they signaled (shows an airborne aircraft) & said that’s how. It’s a party that befools people. So, I returned to Congress: Indranil Rajguru pic.twitter.com/mGX976sxED
— ANI (@ANI) November 5, 2022
“I also saw a lot of money coming and asked where is it from. Both CMs (Kejriwal & Mann) had come to Rajkot and it was then that I asked about it, they signaled (shows an airborne aircraft) and said that’s how. It’s a party that befools people. So, I returned to Congress,” Rajguru further said.
One of the few AAP leaders in Gujarat who has run for and won an assembly election before is Rajguru, a builder from Rajkot. In 2012, Rajguru won a seat in the Rajkot-East assembly. He received the Congress’ nomination to challenge Vijay Rupani, the previous chief minister, for the Rajkot-West seat in 2017. Rupani, who received 61% of the vote, ultimately beat Rajguru in the campaign.
Rajguru left Congress a year later due to his displeasure with the party’s leadership, but he returned in 2019 and pushed for Congress candidates in the Lok Sabha elections. In order to join AAP, he again resigned in April 2022. Rajguru then commended Arvind Kejriwal, the leader of the AAP, stating he stands up for the common man.
Rajguru joined the Congress in the presence of key leaders such as Sukhram Rathava, Jagdish Thakor, Raghu Sharma, the AICC’s Gujarat representative, and others.
Notably, the competition for Gujarat has heated up, with the BJP and the AAP emerging as the frontrunners. The BJP won 99 of the 182 seats in 2017, while the Congress won 77. In the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, the ruling party is vying for a sixth consecutive term.
