Gujarat assembly elections: Feud sends 10-time Congress MLA Mohansinh Rathwa to BJP

The fight for son-rise among the veteran Rathwa trio dealt a major blow to the Congress after 10-time MLA from Chhota Udepur, Mohansinh Rathwa, crossed over to the BJP on Tuesday.
Rathwa, who made his electoral debut in 1972, sent his resignation letter to the Gujarat Congress chief Jagdish Thakor.
Rathwa, 78, donned the saffron in presence of state BJP general secretary Bhargav Bhatt and Pradipsinh Vaghela at BJP media centre in Ahmedabad on Tuesday. His son Raju Rathwa also joined the BJP.
“I am fortunate to see the BJP office. Under the BJP rule, Gujarat is marching ahead and in the coming days it will grow even further,” Rathwa told reporters.
The Congress MLA, who has contested 11 assembly polls since 1972 and won all of them barring the one held in the backdrop of the 2002 communal riots, said that he does not “have any grievances against anyone”.
“I am very impressed by the tribal welfare done by the central and state governments led by the BJP. My next generation also wanted to join the BJP to contribute to the welfare of tribals in the state. So my two sons, all my supporters and I have joined the BJP today,” said Rathwa, who had announced that he would hang up his boots after the 2017 assembly poll.
Rathwa, who started from theBaar gram panchayat in 1965, has been loyal to the political outfits he stayed with and to his constituency. This time, however, he had sought a ticket for his son Rajendrasinh Rathwa from the Chhota Udepur seat and as the polls neared, his pitch became louder.
But, the seat was also on the mind of former Union minister and ex-MP from Chhota Udepur Naran Rathwa. He was eyeing it for his son Sangram. Interestingly, Rajendrasinh is the son-in-law of Sukhram Rathwa.
Chhota Udepur district has three seats – Chhota Udepur, Pavijetpur and Sankheda. While the party announced its candidate for the Sankheda seat, the tussle for Chhota Udepur led the grand old party to keep the other two names in abeyance.
Naran had even suggested that the leader of opposition, Sukhram Rathwa, vacate the Pavijetpur seat in favour of Rajendrasinh so that he could press for the Chhota Udepur seat for his son. He had suggested that Sukhram should contest the Lok Sabha poll.
When the Congress split, Rathwa went with the Indian National Congress (Organisation) or the Congress (O). He had won the 1972 and 1975 assembly elections on Congress (O) tickets.
When Congress (O) merged with the Janata Party, Rathwa too went with the party and won the 1980 and 1985 elections from the Janata Party. He won the 1990 election on the Janata Dal ticket and when it merged with the Congress, he contested six polls on Congress tickets.
Such was his hold on his constituency, that in 1975, when former CM Chimanbhai Patel was to contest against him, Rathwa had advised him not to do so. The result was no surprise with Patel losing by 13,055 votes.