One of five Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLAs recently elected to Gujarat Assembly has said that he will ask the people if he should join the BJP or not. Citing the BJP’s mammoth poll victory, Bhupat Bhayani, the AAP MLA from Visavadar seat in Junagadh district, said he will not be able to do anything for the people who voted for him if he remains in the opposition.
“I have not joined the BJP… I will ask the people if I should join the BJP or not… My seat is in an area dominated by farmers. I need to solve their irrigation-related problems. There are many traders in the area as well. I need to look after them too. I’ll not be able to do that if I do not have good connections with the government. I have placed my demands before the government have got a positive response. I’ll now consult the people, the leaders,” Bhayani said in an exclusive interview to NDTV.
Bhayani, who switched over to the AAP from the BJP, further said, “The people of Gujarat have given a record mandate to Narendra Modi and the BJP. I respect that… I was earlier with the BJP and have good relations with the leaders.”
The AAP faced a humiliating defeat in the recently concluded Gujarat Assembly elections, winning only five seats and garnered 12.9%. Delhi CM and AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal had earlier predicted that the AAP would win over 90 seats in Gujarat elections.
However, with approximately 13% of the vote share in Gujarat, the fourth state after Delhi, Punjab and Goa, the AAP is set to become a ‘national’ party. The AAP will be the ninth political party in India to be accorded the status of a national party. The AAP needed 6% votes and 2 seats in Gujarat to enable it to become a national party.
The Bharatiya Janata Party has set a new record of 156 seats in Gujarat, beating the Congress’ 1985 record of 149 seats in the state assembly. The Congress bagged only 17 seats — a drop of 60 seats from its 2017 score.
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