Days ahead of polling in the first phase of the Gujarat assembly elections, former BJP minister and think tank Jai Narayan Vyas on Monday formally joined the Congress, boosting the party’s morale. Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot were formally present at the party headquarters in Ahmedabad to welcome Vyas and his son Sameer Vyas into the party.
Describing the Gujarat Assembly elections as “important”, Congress President Kharge said the BJP was running a disinformation campaign against the Congress. He said, ‘BJP has realized that the people of Gujarat are taking the side of Congress and hence national leaders are moving from one ward to another. The Prime Minister, the (Union) Home Minister and several other ministers are making inflammatory speeches during the election campaign in Gujarat.
Kharge also claimed that there are “invisible voters” in Gujarat who will vote for the party in the upcoming elections and make it victorious. Assembly elections in Gujarat will be held in two phases on December 1 and December 5, while the results will come on December 8.
Vyas quit the BJP on 5 November, saying he was tired of playing the role of a “complainer” in the saffron party, despite his seniority. He was a minister in the Government of Gujarat between 2007 and 2012. He lost the 2012 and 2017 assembly elections. He is a Civil Engineering graduate from the Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda and a Post Graduate in Civil Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, besides holding a postgraduate qualification in Marketing Management and a degree in Law.
Vyas is a water management expert. He headed the Sardar Sarovar Dam project as the chairman of the corporation responsible for the implementation. It was one of the largest multipurpose water management projects in India. He also later guided the implementation of this project as a minister in charge of Sardar Sarovar and major irrigation projects. His contribution to making this project a reality while ensuring various compliances like rehabilitation, environment planning, etc. has won him wide acclaim.
He had a long and effective stint as a bureaucrat in the state industries department, which was followed by a political career spanning over 20 years.
On Monday morning, Vyas and his son reached the state Congress office, Congress headquarters, Rajiv Gandhi Bhawan. On Sunday, before joining the Congress, Vyas held a rally in support of sitting Congress MLA Chandanji Thakor from Sidhpur seat in Patan district.
Thanking Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge and Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot for inducting him into the Congress, Vyas said, “All irrigation schemes in Gujarat, including the Narmada, were planned before the 1960s.”
“I can say with certainty that 75 percent of the concrete work of the dam including the foundation – much more work on the foundation of the dam than you see above ground was done during the Congress rule. This work started during the reign of Amarsingh Chowdhary and went on during the rule of Sanat Mehta and Chimanbhai Patel.
Vyas also credited the construction of the first modern roads in Gujarat to two chief engineers who worked under Congress leader Dinsha Patel.
Without naming any BJP leader, Jai Narayan Vyas said he was sorry to leave the party that was his home for 32 years, but said the saffron party had two “banyan trees” that would not allow any other leader to grow Were. Talking about the BJP, he said, ‘I was watching a banyan tree growing up there and you know nothing grows under a banyan tree. Another banyan tree has been added to the first banyan tree and so if you sack the entire cabinet, nothing will happen. If Gujarat is being run by such leaders, I think it is not in the interest of the state.”
Vyas’s son Sameer was the chairman of APMC Sidhpur from 2011-2016. He also joined Congress.
Describing the Gujarat Assembly elections as “important”, Congress President Kharge said the BJP was running a disinformation campaign against the Congress. He said, ‘BJP has realized that the people of Gujarat are taking the side of Congress and hence national leaders are moving from one ward to another. The Prime Minister, the (Union) Home Minister and several other ministers are making inflammatory speeches during the election campaign in Gujarat.
Kharge also claimed that there are “invisible voters” in Gujarat who will vote for the party in the upcoming elections and make it victorious. Assembly elections in Gujarat will be held in two phases on December 1 and December 5, while the results will come on December 8.
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