On Thursday, sources said in a major jolt to the Congress, party MLA in Gujarat and OBC leader Alpesh Thakor may join Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and if speculations are to be believed he will directly take oath as a minister. Alpesh is a Congress MLA from Radhanpur in Gujarat.
However, he has refused any such development and rubbished it as fake news. He will address a press conference on Friday on the matter. Incidentally, amid the speculations, two chambers of the Gandhinagar ministry is being cleaned.
On the other hand, the BJP is maintaining suspense about Alpesh. Gujarat party president Jitu Waghani said that the doors of the party are open to everyone, but it is for Alpesh to decide what step he wants to take. The BJP has not contacted him yet.
The young OBC leader had said recently that his community and supporters were feeling "cheated" and "ignored", which was seen as a criticism of the state leadership. "Weak leaders" were at the helm of party affairs in Gujarat, he had said in an apparent reference to Gujarat Congress president Amit Chavda.