Kamini Baa Rathore, a former Gujarat Congress MLA from Dehgam, joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday.
Kamini Baa recently resigned from the Congress after being denied a ticket to run in the next Assembly elections. She later entered the race as an independent candidate, but withdrew her candidacy when it became evident that she was ready to join the saffron camp.
The state’s 182 Assembly seats will be polled in two stages on December 1 and 5, with the ballots being counted on December 8.
Speaking to reporters after joining the BJP, Kamini Baa said, “Voices of wise and experienced leaders are being suppressed in the Congress. The same happened with me. An attempt was made to suppress a woman’s voice. I joined the BJP as it believes in giving every single worker a voice and working unitedly.”
Eighty nine of the total 182 Assembly seats will go to polls in the first phase on December 1.
The BJP has been in power in Gujarat for the last 27 years and is eyeing a resh term at the helm this year.
However, it faces a stiff challenge from the Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which is determined to make electoral inroads in Gujarat after its spectacular Assembly poll win in Punjab.
The Congress, too, is in the race in the hope of unseating the BJP from power.
