Shankersinh Vaghela joins NCP in presence of Sharad Pawar

Ahmedabad, Jan 29: Former Chief Minister of Gujarat Shankersinh Vaghela joined Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) in presence of party chief Sharad Pawar in Ahmedabad on Wednesday.

Vaghela's entry into the NCP can lead to a three-way fight on a few Lok Sabha seats in Gujarat if the Congress fails to enter into a pre-poll alliance with Pawar's party.

The state has 26 Lok Sabha seats and all of them were won by the BJP in the 2014 general elections.

Recently, Vaghela had toured various places, including Delhi, and declared that he will fight for removal of the BJP-led government at the Centre in 2019.

Vaghela, had quit the Congress ahead of the Gujarat Assembly polls in 2017. Soon after he left the Indian National Congress, he launched a new outfit called Jan Vikalp Morcha ahead of 2017 Gujarat Legislative Assembly election.

As the application for registration of Jan Vikalp Morcha was not approved by the elections were announced by the Election Commission, his outfit fielded 95 candidates under the symbol and banner of Jaipur-based All India Hindustan Congress Party to contest election. AIHCP garnered only 0.3% (83,922) of total votes and did not win any seat.

(With PTI inputs)