By PTI
AHMEDABAD: The son of late Congress MLA and former Health Minister Dr Anil Joshiyara joined the ruling BJP at a function in Bhiloda town of Gujarat’s Arvalli district on Tuesday.
As per a party release, Keval Joshiyara was inducted into the party by Gujarat BJP president CR Paatil, along with nearly 1,300 supporters.
“I am joining the BJP as I am impressed with the developmental works carried out by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel’s government. I have joined the party without any expectation of ticket. I will try my best to ensure the BJP’s victory from Bhiloda seat,” Keval told reporters.
The state Assembly elections in Gujarat are expected to be held in December.
Dr Anil Joshiyara was a five-time MLA from Bhiloda (ST) seat in Arvalli district, and was a prominent tribal face of the Congress in north Gujarat.
The senior Congress leader died of COVID-19 at a hospital in Chennai in March when the state Assembly was in session.
Joshiyara, a surgeon, was first elected as an MLA from Bhiloda in 1995 on a BJP ticket and had served as the health minister between 1996 and 1997 in a government headed by Shankersinh Vaghela.
He later joined the Congress after Vaghela merged his Rashtriya Janata Party with the party in 1998.
Meanwhile, Maharashtra Congress working president Naseem Khan on Tuesday resigned as head of the party’s Mumbai campaign committee, in line with the party’s resolution of ‘one person one post’.
Khan, a former minister in the Maharashtra government, informed in a statement about quitting the party post in Mumbai.
The move comes a day after the state Congress unit held meetings with its top leaders.
It was also decided to implement the ‘one person one post’ rule, as decided by the Congress in its ‘Chintan Shivir’ held in Udaipur earlier this month.
