Gujarat Assembly Polls: After Denied Ticket, Two-time BJP MLA Kesarisinh Solanki Joins AAP

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA representing the Matar Assembly constituency in Gujarat’s Kheda district has joined the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) after the ruling party denied a ticket to him from his seat for the upcoming Assembly elections.

Kesarisinh Solanki, who had won the election twice from the seat, joined the AAP, said the Arvind Kejriwal-led party’s state unit president Gopal Italia on Twitter.

“Kesarisinh Solanki ji, a popular, hardworking, fearless MLA of Matar Vidhan Sabha, has joined the Aam Aadmi Party today after getting inspired by the honest politics of Arvind Kejriwal. I heartily welcome Shri Kesari Sinh ji to the Aam Aadmi Party. Together we will form an honest government in Gujarat," Italia said in a tweet late Thursday night. The tweet carried a photograph, which showed Italia welcoming Solanki.

In July 2021, Gujarat's Panchmahal district police arrested 25 people including Kesarisinh Solanki who were found gambling and enjoying liquor in a resort.

The ruling BJP, which on Thursday released its first list of 160 candidates for the state elections, has named Kalpesh Parmar as its candidate for the Matar seat, which was represented by Solanki in 2014 and 2017.

Solanki had won the bye-election to the seat in 2014 after the then MLA Devusinh Chauhan won the Lok Sabha election. Chauhan is currently the Union Minister of State for Communications.

Solanki had also won the 2017 Assembly election from the constituency on the BJP ticket.

The AAP has already declared the name of one Mahipatsinh Chauhan as its candidate for the seat.

The BJP released its first list fielding Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel from his constituency Ghatlodia and dropping a large number of sitting MLAs.

A number of former Congress MLAs in Gujarat, who joined the BJP after resigning as legislators in the last five years, have been given an opportunity by the ruling party to fight the upcoming state Assembly polls.

The Congress had won 77 seats in the 2017 Assembly elections. Of these 77 legislators, as many as 20 resigned during the past five years, with three quitting in the last two days alone.

A majority of these 20 MLAs had won the byelections necessitated by their resignation and most of them have been given another chance by the BJP to contest the elections to be held on 1 and 5 December.

(With inputs from PTI)