Zadaphia, (below) Modi

Ahmedabad, Oct. 16: Gordhan Zadaphia, who was Gujarat home minister during the 2002 riots and has since revolted against Narendra Modi, appears ready to join the Congress along with a dozen BJP MLAs and two MPs.

Former chief minister Suresh Mehta, who, too, has refused to accept the chief minister as his leader, is expected to join them.

Surat MP Kashiram Rana could follow ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.

Amerli MP Soma Patel and Surat MLA Dhiru Gajera confirmed they would be joining the Congress together. “Modi is a dictator, the Congress is a democratic party,” Gajera said.

Zadaphia was a protégé of VHP general secretary Praveen Togadia and, together with Modi, is blamed for the 2002 riots that claimed nearly a thousand lives.

But the BJP rebels and the Congress foresee no problem working together for the December Assembly polls. The dissidents’ oust-Modi campaign, launched two years ago, has diluted their anti-Congress stand.

“We have jointly fought against Modi and it has strengthened our relationship. There are no differences. We do not foresee any problem,” Congress legislature party leader Arjunsinh Modhwadia said.

Gujarat Congress chief Bharat Solanki admits psychological barriers — for years, until the BJP rebels turned against Modi, the Congress had fought them. But “the Congress party is like an ocean, where all rivers merge and dissolve their identities”, he added.

“If Narayan Rane and Sanjay Nirupam can join the Congress, so can the rebels who have no problem switching over and accepting our party’s programme and Sonia Gandhi’s leadership,” Solanki said.

Rana and former chief minister Keshubhai Patel, widely seen as the leader of the rebels, have decided not to join the Congress at present but will “openly support the Congress candidates” under the banner of the Sardar Patel Utkarsh Samiti.

Floated by Surat’s diamond barons, the Samiti today inaugurated its first election office. Tomorrow, Union minister Shankersinh Vaghela and several rebel leaders will kick off the election campaign in Surat. Vaghela, too, had crossed over from the BJP to the Congress.

The BJP leaders who are unhappy with Modi but not ready yet to quit the party will campaign under the Samiti’s banner, a rebel leader said.

For the Congress, it is a win-win situation as the rebels want tickets for constituencies that have never been Congress strongholds. “The party has no problem in accommodating more rebels, considering their winnability, which is going to be the only criterion for selecting candidates,” said senior Congress leader Narhari Amin.