Veteran Gujarat politician Shankersinh Vaghela quits NCP, miffed over his removal as state unit chief

New Delhi: Former Gujarat Chief Minister Shankersinh Vaghela on Monday resigned from the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), apparently upset over his ouster as Gujarat state unit chief.

The veteran politician tendered his resignation as General Secretary as well as primary membership of the Sharad Pawar-led party. He had joined the NCP only in 2019, two years after quitting the Congress.

In a letter to party chief Sharad Pawar on Monday, Veghela mentioned about his being replaced as party chief and made a veiled reference to Rajya Sabha elections from the state in which BJP won three of four seats.

Issuing a video message after his resignation, Vaghela expressed his displeasure about lone NCP MLA Kandhal Jadeja defying the party whip and indulging in cross-voting during the June 19 Rajya Sabha polls for four seats.

The BJP had won three of the four seats while the Congress, which was hit by resignations of eight MLAs, could bag only one seat while its other candidate lost narrowly.

The NCP replaced Vaghela with Jayant Patel as NCP Gujarat chief, few days back.