After Asha Patel, Congress MLA Jawahar Chavda quits; party strength down to 73

AHMEDABAD: Senior Congress leader Jawahar Chavda on Friday resigned from the Gujarat Legislative Assembly, a development that comes just days head of the March 12 Congress Working Committee meeting in the state.nnWith this,  party’s strength come down to 73 out of 182-member Gujarat Assembly.nnChavda, a four-time MLA, represented Manavadar seat in Junagadh district and is considered to be an influential OBC leader from the Ahir community.nnConfirming the development, Assembly Speaker Rajendra Trivedi said, “Chavda has resigned as MLA from Manavadar seat.nnHe came to my residence and handed over his resignation letter. I have accepted his resignation. He has not cited any particular reason. Chavda ceases to be an MLA from today.”nnChavda, who won from Manavadar in 1990, 2007, 2012 and 2017, is the third Congress MLA to have resigned from the House in past few months.nnIn July last year, senior Congress MLA Kunvarji Bavalia had resigned as legislator and was then inducted in the BJP government as a cabinet minister.nnLast month, first-time MLA from Unjha seat of Mehsana, Asha Patel, had resigned from the House and party and joined the ruling BJP.nnSource: Press Trust of India