Former MLA Bimal Shah, who was sidelined in the BJP for long, is set to join the Congress, reports said on Thursday, even as the former state minister denied any such development.
The buzz in political circles is that Shah is set to join the Congress in the next couple of days. Bimal Shah was elected to the state assembly from Kapadvanj seat in Kheda district in 1998 and 2002, and had served as minister of state for transport in 1998. However, he had lost in 2007, and was not given a ticket after that.
He had contested from Kapadvanj as an independent candidate in the 2017 elections. He secured 46,900 votes and stood third, but the division of votes allowed Congress to defeat BJP by a margin of 27,000 votes.
The buzz is that Shah could contest the upcoming Lok Sabha elections from Kheda seat on a Congress ticket. Reports also said that Shah is likely to meet Congress president Rahul Gandhi in the next two days before joining the party. However, when contacted, Shah denied plans to join Congress. “If there is any development, I will let you know,” he said.