Bharuch: Gujarat BJP MP and former Union minister Mansukh Vasava quit the party Tuesday. Mansukh Vasava also said he would also resign from Lok Sabha in the budget session of Parliament. In his resignation letter, Vasava (63) did not specify any reason for quitting the BJP. However, sources said the six- term MP, who is vocal on tribal issues, has been critical of BJP’s policies. He started criticising the party after he was dropped as Union Minister in 2016.
Vasava has written a letter to Gujarat BJP president CR Paatil. “I am resigning so that the image of the party is not damaged because of my mistake. I have been a loyal worker of the party, so please forgive me,” Vasava wrote in the letter.The Lok Sabha member, however, did not mention which ‘mistake’ he was referring to.
In the letter dated December 28, Vasava said he will resign as Bharuch MP after meeting the Lok Sabha Speaker.
Vasava said he tried his best to be loyal to the party and assimilate its values in life. However as he is human so he can make mistakes.
“I am a human and humans tend to commit mistakes. To ensure that the party does not suffer due to my mistake, I resign from the party, whose forgiveness I seek,” Vasava stated. He also thanked the BJP and its central leadership for giving him ‘many things’. He also requested Paatil to inform the party leadership about his decision.
Paatil said Vasava is a sensitive person who fights for his people. He expressed confidence that Vasava will change his plan to quit.
“In the letter sent to me, Vasava only mentioned that he will quit as an MP during the budget session. He is unhappy over some issues. I discussed them with Chief Minister Vijay Rupani this morning,” Paatil told reporters. He said Vasava is particularly unhappy about the declaration of the eco sensitive zone in his constituency.
Vasava had written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi December 20. He sought withdrawal of a Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change notification declaring 121 villages of Narmada district as eco sensitive zone.
“The main issue is the eco sensitive zone, declared on some portion of the land by the Centre. It appears that some people are misguiding locals over the issue after the district collector made some entries about the land parcels. We are trying to convince Vasava and I am confident of a solution on this issue soon,” Paatil said.
Vasava has been winning the tribal-dominated Bharuch Lok Sabha seat since 1998. He was inducted as Union Minister of State for Tribal Affairs by Modi in May 2014. However, he was dropped in July 2016.
