Congress MLA Alpesh Thakor, regarded as a powerful OBC leader in Gujarat, quit the Congress on Wednesday while Rajasthan Gujjar leader Kirori Singh Bainsla joined the BJP, a day before the first phase of voting for the Lok Sabha polls.

Alpesh quit the Congress along with two other MLAs close to him in Ahmedabad. BJP sources claimed the trio would join the party, but he later said he would not join the BJP.

The BJP has been trying to poach the OBC leader from north Gujarat for a long time. Thakor had joined the Congress ahead of the 2017 Gujarat Assembly polls and had been credited with significantly improving the Opposition party’s tally in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home state.

In Delhi, Kirori Singh Bainsla, who led the recent Gujjar agitation in Rajasthan, joined the BJP along with his son Vijay Bainsla and was welcomed by party chief Amit Shah. This is the second time Kirori Singh Bainsla has joined the BJP. In 2009, he had contested the Lok Sabha polls on a BJP ticket and lost, following which he had distanced himself from the party.

While the BJP sought to project the twin developments as a shot in the arm for the party ahead of the general election, many spied a hint that the party was not confident of winning seats in Gujarat and Rajasthan solely on the popularity of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

In 2014, the BJP had swept Gujarat and Rajasthan, winning all 51 Lok Sabha seats.

The two other Congress MLAs who joined Alpesh Thakor in resigning from the Congress were Dhavalsinh Thakor and Bharajit Thakor. Alpesh was one of the three Gujarat leaders, including Hardik Patel and Jignesh Mevani, who had led the campaign against the BJP in the 2017 Assembly polls.

Alpesh had been keen on contesting the Lok Sabha polls from Patan and was learnt to have been angry when the Congress gave the ticket to another leader from the community, former MP Jagdish Thakor.

Alpesh heads the Gujarat Kshatriya Thakor Sena, an outfit that is believed to wield influence over the backward Thakors, who have substantial presence in north Gujarat.

Alpesh said in a letter to Gujarat Congress chief Amit Chavda that he was resigning from all party posts because of insults and betrayal. “I should not stay in a party where I am being insulted, ignored and betrayed,” he said.

Thakor later told a media conference that he would not join the BJP.

“I am not joining the BJP. I am not resigning as an MLA. I am not going to campaign for or against any Lok Sabha candidate (of the BJP or the Congress). I will campaign for the Thakor Sena candidates who are contesting from the Banaskantha Lok Sabha seat and the Unjha Assembly seat (where a bypoll is due),” Alpesh said.

Kirori Singh Bainsla said in Delhi: “I have seen rarest of rare qualities in Prime Minister Narendra Modi and that’s why I am joining the BJP.”

Additional reporting by PTI