Junagadh: A member of the legislative assembly(MLA) from the Visavadar assembly seat in Saurashtra region, Bhupat Bhayani, today tendered his resignation. The State Assembly Speaker Shankar Choudhary received Bhupat Bhayani’s resignation.

Bhupat Bhayani after his resignation said that the Aam Aadmi Party was not a suitable platform for him to work in the nation’s interest. He emphasized his commitment to nationalist ideals. He said he would consult his constituents and workers before deciding on the next move. Responding to media queries about joining the BJP, Bhupat Bhayani stated, “I was a worker of the BJP earlier.”

Isudan Gadhvi,  State President of the Aam Aadmi Party claimed that the BJP is trying to influence their MLAs but affirmed that four MLAs would continue to be in AAP.

Bhayani had contested 2022 assembly elections on AAP ticket and emerged victorious in the Visavadar seat, defeating both the BJP’s Harshad Ribadia and Congress’ Karshan Vadodaria. He secured a victory over BJP’s Harshad Ribadia, garnering a lead of 6,900 votes.

Formerly aligned with the Bharatiya Janata Party, Bhupat Bhayani had previously clinched victories in the Zilla Panchayat once and the Taluka Panchayat twice under the BJP banner. Additionally, he held the position of Vice President in the Junagadh District BJP organization. Bhupat Bhayani made the transition to the Aam Aadmi Party in 2020.

Bhayani is highly regarded in Visavadar for various initiatives, including establishing a COVID center in Bhensan during the pandemic, facilitating the marriages of underprivileged daughters, spearheading community garden projects, participating in gauche development, and addressing the issues faced by workers and farmers.

While serving as the Sarpanch in Bhensan village within the Visavadar assembly constituency, which boasts a population of approximately 12 thousand, Bhupat Bhayani, associated with the BJP at that time, joined the Aam Aadmi Party. Consequently, the BJP suspended Bhupat Bhayani from the post of Sarpanch.

With the resignation of the MLA, a by-poll for the Visavdar constituency is set to be held in the next six months, most probably with the Lok Sabha election itself. Polling of the Visavdar constituency by-poll may take place alongside the Lok Sabha election on the same day. Visavdar constituency had previously also elected a non-BJP MLA, Congress leader Harshad Ribadiya, who later joined BJP and contested last year on BJP ticket but lost against Bhayani. The constituency was once represented by later Gujarat Chief Minister Keshubhai Patel. However, his son had lost a by-poll on the same seat when he contested on a BJP ticket. Part of the Junagadh Lok Sabha seat, Visavdar is mostly a rural-dominated constituency with large presence of Leuva Patidar community people. DeshGujarat