Congress staying with its policy of use and throw has given another example to reiterate its stance with controversial Gujarat lawmaker Alpesh Thakor seems to be the pick this time around. Thakor who was appointed as the All India Congress Committee (AICC) Secretary for Bihar after joining the party in 2017, announced in a press conference that he was resigning from all posts and positions of the party. In a letter to Gujarat Congress chief Amit Chavda Alpesh has reiterated the same.
“I should not stay where I am being insulted, ignored and betrayed…poor youth of my community were angry and upset as they were ignored and insulted. For me, Thakor Sena is supreme…My Sena had asked me to leave a party if we are ignored, insulted and cheated there” he said.
Congress, rattled by Alpesh’s acute move, just as the nation was going into the first phase of the election, has been trying hard to control the extent of the damage. Alpesh Thakor had joined the grand old party in 2017, before the Gujarat assembly elections and is the current sitting MLA from Gujarat’s Radhanpur assembly constituency. The party has already initiated proceedings against the rouge MLA to discredit him and strip him of the membership of the assembly.
Thakor has also been replaced by ex-Congress MLA from Uttar Pradesh Ajay Kapoor as the AICC Secretary for Bihar. Ajay Kapoor has been marred by several serious charges like money laundering and has been under investigation by the Enforcement Directorate for allegedly using various fake accounts to convert crores of black money during Demonetisation.
Evidently Alpesh, as a member of Congress, had been instrumental in polarizing the electorate when he had instigated statewide mob violence against non-Gujaratis and migrants through various hate speeches.
Alpesh Thakor incidentally has not left his primary membership of the party; however, Congress has already initiated procedures to get him disqualified as an MLA. While making the announcement in front of the media, Alpesh had also leveled serious allegations of financial irregularities against the Congress.
“He also said that nominations for Lok Sabha candidates are being sold. We will challenge him to prove his allegations. The party is moving towards legal action against Alpesh,” said a source. The Congress party is trying to prove that he has violated Representation of Peoples Act, which could lead to his disqualification as an MLA of Gujarat Assembly.
At the press conference, Thakor was accompanied by two Congress legislators from Thakor Community, Ayad MLA Dhavalsinh Zala and Bechraji MLA Bharat Thakor.
Zala and Bharat maintained that they were not resigning from the party or as MLAs, however, voiced their support for Alpesh Thakor.
Alpesh Thakor, who was being projected as a young dynamic leader by the grand old party before the Gujarat assembly elections, has evidently met with the real face of Congress. Alpesh who was even willing to flaunt with the law as a member of Congress has been discarded from the party as an expendable resource.