Kheda, Gujarat (The Hawk): Prabhatsinh Chauhan, a former BJP MP from Gujarat's Panchmahal constituency, joined the Congress on Tuesday in the presence of the party's general secretary Mohan Prakash and other state officials.
He joined the party before the Parivartan Yatra began in Fagvel, Kheda district.
Ajitsinh Dabhi, Panchmahal district Congress president, thought Chauhan's return into the party would help the Congress reclaim the Kalol assembly seat, which it has lost to the BJP since 1995.
Chauhan has a stronghold on the Kshatriya caste in the area, and he also has clout in some parts of the Godhra assembly constituency.
"His reappearance will assist the party in regaining lost ground in Panchmahal district," Dabhi remarked.
Prabhastinh Chauhan, a former Congress member, was elected to the state assembly on the Congress symbol in 1980 and 1985. He joined the BJP in 1995 and was elected to the legislature from the Kalol constituency in 1995, 1998, and 2002.
In 2009 and 2014, he was elected as a BJP MP from the Panchmahal constituency.
He was alleged to be dissatisfied with the BJP since, against his desires, the party nominated his daughter-in-law Suman for the Kalol seat in 2017.
"He returned to the Congress camp because he was unhappy in the BJP," a source claimed.
(Inputs from Agencies)