Gujarat Congress leader Indranil Rajyaguru resigned from the party on Monday. (File)
Six months after he unsuccessfully contested against Chief Minister Vijay Rupani in the Assembly elections, Indranil Rajyaguru resigned from the Congress on Monday, citing disagreement with the functioning of the party. Rajyaguru’s resignation comes a day after senior Congress leader Kunvarji Bavaliya said he was ready to “change his idea” as people of his constituency have suffered because it is represented by an Opposition MLA.
At a press conference, Rajyaguru announced that he had resigned from all party posts and primary membership of the Congress. “I tendered my resignation to party state unit chief Amit Chavda today… I had disagreement with the way the Congress party functions. Some partymen indulged in anti-party activities during the Assembly election last year. I complained against them. But party leaders, instead of taking disciplinary action against them, awarded them party positions. In such a scenario, I thought it is best to quit the Congress, while continuing to serve people in my personal capacity,” Rajyaguru said.
When asked whether his next move will be to join the BJP, he said that he would not join the ruling party. “I will not join the BJP but will continue to serve the people of Rajkot. For me, politics is the best medium to serve the people. However, there are many other ways to work for them,” he said.
Rajyaguru had burst on the political scene by emerging victorious from Rajkot (East) Assembly seat in 2012. Back then, he had become the richest MLA in the Assembly with Rs 123 crore declared assets. By 2017, when he contested against CM Rupani from Rajkot (West), his assets went up to Rs 141 crore.
Just 10 months ago, Rajyaguru was considered to be among the flag-bearers of the Congress in Saurashtra region when a host of sitting Congress MLAs defected to the BJP in the run-up to Rajya Sabha election in August last year. Rajyaguru had hosted the MLAs loyal to the Congress and whisked them to Karnataka to protect them from alleged poaching efforts by the BJP. He had also hosted Rahul Gandhi in the run-up to 2014 Lok Sabha election and again during the Assembly election last year.
Rajyaguru has diverse business interests, ranging from real estate to hospitality. He had running feud with with Kunvarji Bavaliya while the latter was president of Rajkot city unit of Congress.