The ruling BJP not only created dent in Congress bastion but also make inroads in tribal areas of Gujarat as the saffron brigade took complete control over important tribal dominated Dang district panchayat on Monday as three members of the Congress decided to join the BJP.
There was a tie in the 18-member panchayat body after the polls of the district panchayat in December last year. Both the parties — BJP as well as Congress won 9 seats each. Though, immediately after the announcement of result BJP took partial control of Dang district panchayat as one Congress member remained absent in the general body meeting.
However on Monday, the saffron party took complete control of the district panchayat as three Congress members decided to wear saffron scarf. With this development the saffron party will have clear majority with 12 members.
“The rebel Congress members of Dang district panchayat were inducted at BJP’s headquarters ‘Shree Kamalam’ on the outskirts of Gandhinagar. They were inducted in presence of Gujarat Chief Minister Anandiben Patel and BJP’s national vice-president Parshotam Rupala,” said official source in the party.
From just one, the Congress rose to annex 23 district panchayat out of 31 in the last panchayat polls held in December 2015. The ruling BJP reduced to mere seven and there was a tie in Daang district panchayat. However, in the span of three months BJP’s tally increased to 10 as some of the congress members decided to either support BJP or joined the saffron brigade.
The tally may increase further as at least three members of Congress ruled Ahmedabad District Panchayat have decided to join BJP. In fact because of this reason, the ruling Congress party couldn’t able to pass Ahmedabad district panchayat’s budget twice.