Former BJP MP from Panchmahal constituency in Gujarat, Prabhatsinh Chauhan on Tuesday joined Congress in the presence of party’s general secretary Mohan Prakash and other state leaders.
He joined the party before the Parivartan Yatra was flagged off from Fagvel in Kheda district.
Panchmahal district Congress president Ajitsinh Dabhi hoped that Chauhan’s entry in the party will help the Congress regain Kalol assembly seat, which it has been losing to the BJP since 1995.
Chauhan has a very good hold over the Kshatriya caste in the area and also enjoys influence in some pockets of the Godhra assembly constituency.
“His re-entry will help the party win the lost ground in Panchmahal district,” Dabhi said.
Prabhastinh Chauhan — once a Congress member — had got elected to the state assembly in 1980 and 1985 on Congress symbol. In 1995, he had switched to the BJP and got elected to the assembly in 1995, 1998 and 2002 from Kalol constituency.
He became a BJP MP from Panchmahal constituency in 2009 and 2014.
He was said to be unhappy with the BJP as in 2017, against his wishes, the party nominated his daughter-in-law Suman from Kalol seat.
“As he was feeling uncomfortable in the BJP, he has returned to the Congress camp,” a source said.
