Former Congress MLA Indranil Rajguru on Thursday joined the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Rajkot, saying that the party has emerged as the best option to uproot the ruling BJP in the state.

The jolt to Congress has come three weeks after it appointed Rajguru as the vice president of Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC).

Rajguru said that it was the attitude of AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal of putting people before the party that impressed him a lot.

“I was in the Congress from the beginning because I wanted to serve the people. The BJP has acquired power by fooling people, while the Congress has lost its ability to become an alternative. My only problem with the Congress is that it lacks the will to defeat the BJP,” he said.

Who is Indranil Rajguru?

Son of Congress leader Sanjay Rajguru, Indranil won from Rajkot (East) on the Congress seat in 2012. He was the richest MLA in the Gujarat Assembly with declared assets of Rs 122 crore.

In 2017, Rajguru contested the Rajkot (West) seat against then-chief minister Vijay Rupani. Rajguru lost to Rupani with a margin of more than 50,000 votes.

According to the Indian Express, even though he was only a one-time MLA, Rajguru had much clout in the party due to his political lineage as well as wealth. As a real-estate developer with interests in the hospitality business, Rajguru used to host Congress events in Rajkot.

He is also owner of several private educational institutes in Gujarat.

As per reports, despite the party’s disagreement, Rajguru decided to take on the sitting CM by fighting the 2017 elections from Rajkot (West), which has been a BJP bastion for decades.

Rajguru’s first exist from the Congress

In June 2018, after six months of his growing distance with the Congress leadership, Rajguru quit the party. He claimed to be unhappy with the functioning of the party organisation.

He had also alleged that party workers involved in anti-party activities during the polls were promoted instead of being punished.

Rajguru was nowhere to be seen in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. However, he gradually started getting closer to the Congress leadership.

According to the Indian Express report, in June 2020, he hosted senior Congress leaders, including then Congress Legislature Party leader Paresh Dhanani and former GPCC president Arjun Modhwadia.

Rajguru made a re-entry into the party in September 2020. However, he hasn’t been seen warming up to other party members.