Gujarat: I have been a Modi bhakt since 2007, says Ashwin Kotwal after joining BJP

GANDHINAGAR: Within hours of quitting as MLA, ex-Congress legislator Ashwin Kotwal proclaimed that he has been an admirer of Prime Minister Narendra Modi since 2007. The three-term Congress MLA handed over his resignation to the assembly speaker and rode straight to the state BJP headquarters to join the saffron party.
"I became a `bhakt’ of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2007. I may have won the assembly election thrice on a Congress ticket, but all the while, PM Modi was in my heart," said the ex MLA who added that he will gladly do whatever work is assigned to him in the BJP.
Kotwal was MLA from Khedbrahma seat in Sabarkantha district of north Gujarat – a seat which he won thrice consecutively on a Congress ticket since 2007. The seat which is reserved for candidates from scheduled tribes (ST), has been a Congress bastion for almost three decades. Former CM Amarsinh Chaudhary won this seat thrice from 1995 to 2002
While the Congress has been hit by defections before every major election in the past decade, Kotwal is the first sitting Congress MLA who has resigned in the run-up to the December assembly election in Gujarat.
"In 2007, Narendra Modi told me that his aim was to ensure that every Adivasi lives in a concrete house, with facilities of drinking water and electricity. I was about to join the BJP way back in 2007," said Kotwal, adding that Modi said he was looking for hardworking and dedicated leaders from the adivasi community. “I wanted to join the BJP in 2007 itself,” claimed Kotwal.
Kotwal was welcomed into the party by state BJP president CR Paatil. Kotwal presented Paatil with a bow and arrow, which is commonly used by people residing in the tribal belt which extends from Ambaji to Umergaon in Gujarat.