Gandhinagar Mayor, 6 Cong corporators may join BJP

In what may come as a blow to the Congress, Gandhinagar Mayor Mahendrasinh Rana and six other corporators from the party are planning to cross over to the BJP, sources said.

Winning the first-ever polls to the newly created Gandhinagar Municipal Corporation in May last year, the Congress had bagged 18 of the 33 seats in the civic body.

If the defection takes place, the civic body's control would pass into the hands of the BJP.

"As the Assembly elections draw nearer, clamour for tickets has begun in Congress. Ticket aspirants have started pressuring the party. Sniffing an opportunity, BJP has started talking to Congress corporators to win them over," said sources close to the development.

"Around six Congress leaders are already in talks with BJP," they said.

Mayor Mahendrasinh Rana and Standing Committee chairman Pravin Patel are also in talks with the BJP, sources said.

Pravin Patel, a former BJP worker from Gandhinagar, had joined Congress only last year after BJP denied him a ticket for the civic elections. Rana is unhappy with the party leadership. His term as Mayor ends next year and he expects a ticket for Assembly elections.

About 10 days ago, Rana had publicly warned the state Congress leadership against "importing" outsiders to be fielded from Gandhinagar, which has four Assembly seats. Two seats (Gandhinagar city and Dahgam) are with BJP while the other two (Mansa and Kalol) are with the Congress.

While Gandhinagar seat was won by BJP in the 2007 Assembly polls, Dahgam was bagged by it in bypoll held in 2009.

The ruling party lost Mansa to the Congress in the bypoll held last year, a blow the BJP could well be planning to avenge.

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