Rebel Narhari Amin all set to join BJP today

Narhari Amin, former deputy chief minister who has resigned from the Congress, is all set to join the BJP on Thursday.

The denial of an election ticket to him had, in fact, the makings of sparking an exodus in Naranpura, from where former minister Amit Shah of the BJP is contesting.

Sources said Chief Minister Narendra Modi will himself welcome Amin into the BJP fold. Amin will arrive at the BJP office with an estimated 4,000-odd supporters from all over Gujarat.

Amin confirmed this. "The BJP has been sending signals to join it, but I had not decided about this so far. However, I have now made up my mind," he said.

Amin said that the neglect of his supporters and injustice to them in the GPCC and other bodies of the party had prompted him to quit. "Yes, it is true if one says that injustices have driven us out of the Congress party."

Overall, the Janata Dal(G) group in the Congress is split over quitting. Leaders like Siddharth Patel, Balubhai Patel and Pankaj Shah have not quit the Congress though they belong to the JD(G) group.

Amin said that these leaders had been given party tickets, so they would stay with the Congress. Those expected to join the BJP, probably on Friday, include GPCC spokesperson Jayantilal Parmar, Ashish Amin, Digvijay Singh Gohil, Hitesh Patel (Pochi) and Dasahrath Patel.

BJP national vice-president Purshottam Rupala said that he would welcome Amin's entry. "Whenever he wants to join our party, he will be welcomed," he said.

Narhari had already declared a few days ago, after being denied a ticket, that he and his supporters would not work for the Congress. He had also predicted that the Congress would not win the Gujarat elections.

He had joined the Congress with late Chimanbhai Patel in 1992. After the JD(G) formed a coalition government with the BJP, the Chimanbhai group merged the party with the Congress and toppled the government.

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