Vadodara: Former Padra MLA Dinesh Patel alias Dinu Mama today returned to the BJP again.

Patel had contested against the party as a rebel after he was denied a ticket during the assembly elections last year. He had lost the election but achieved a significant 51,000 votes.

Patel was considered for re-entry into the party given the fact that he had not joined Congress or AAP after quitting BJP. He had also resigned as the chairman of the Baroda Dairy ‘voluntarily’.

Patel was earlier with the Congress and won as an independent in 2007 after the Congress denied him a ticket. He joined the BJP ahead of the 2012 assembly elections and won. Patel, however, lost in 2017 and was seeking a ticket in the 2022 polls too. On being denied a ticket, he contested as an independent and lost.

Since 2007, he has had a good influence on a section of BJP workers. This increased after he won the party in 2012. When he decided to contest as an independent again this time, several BJP workers supported him and even resigned from the party. Several others were suspended from the party.