Unhappy with Rajya Sabha snub, Gujarat Congress president Bharatsinh Solanki resigns

The Gujarat Congress is soon likely to have a new president as the incumbent Bharatsinh Solanki has resigned from the post.

Solanki, who would be out of country for two weeks from tomorrow, said on Monday that he had resigned as Gujarat Congress president immediately after the party's defeat in the assembly elections.

"I had submitted my resignation taking moral responsibility for Congress's defeat in the December assembly elections. It is for the party to decide on my resignation," Solanki told DNA.

The former union minister was a claimant for one of the two Rajya Sabha seats from Gujarat, but was reportedly unhappy after the party picked others as its nominees. Solanki said that there was no truth in the speculations.

"These speculations of me not being happy with the party are not true," he said, adding that he was a loyal solider of Congress, and would work with the party's pick as the Gujarat president for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

Meanwhile, sources said that the Congress is likely to pick an OBC leader to replace Solanki. They said that former MP Jagdish Thakor and MLA Kunvarji Bavaliya are among the potential contenders to replace Solanki.