Ahead of the budget session of the Gujarat Assembly, state Congress today sought help and guidance of former BJP leader Suresh Mehta "to corner" the ruling party in the House.
Mehta had left BJP before the 2007 assembly elections. He had quit BJP alleging dictatorial style of former chief minister Narendra Modi.
Leader of Opposition in Assembly Shankersinh Vaghela had convened a meeting of all the Congress MLAs and other office-bearers of the party in Gandhinagar to discuss the strategy ahead of the assembly session starting July 1, which Mehta attended as he was a special invitee.
Though the presence of Mehta, who is the founder member of the now defunct Gujarat Parivartan Party (GPP), was a surprise for many Congressmen, it triggered speculation in political circles that he might join the Congress.
However, Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC) president Arjun Modhwadia clarified that Mehta was called by Vaghela just to seek his "guidance".
"Being a former CM, Mehta knows the government in and out. He was invited for the meeting for expert's guidance. Earlier too, we have taken his advise on several issues. Thus, there is no question about him joining Congress," Modhwadia, who was also present in the meeting, said.
After the meet, Vaghela announced that in the assembly session, Congress would target Chief Minister Anandi Patel and her government over alleged irregularities and corruption in Gujarat Housing Board draw, which was cancelled by her yesterday.
"After mass protests by people, the CM, who handles the Urban Development Department, was forced to cancel the draw, which proves that corruption and irregularities were done in the scheme. Thus, we called a meeting today to corner the government in upcoming Assembly session on that issue," said Vaghela through his official press release today.
Mehta was not available for comments.
