Summary:
Former Congress leader Alpesh Thakor and Dhavalsinh Zala on Thursday formally joined the BJP, a few months after speculation first rose that the Thakor leader was angling for a change of party. It had won 77 seats in 2017 Assembly elections. Thakor, 43, had earlier resigned from various posts in the Congress party in April but did not quit the party. Thakor had won the Radhanpur seat in Patan for Congress while Zala is an MLA from Bayad in Sabarkantha. Thakor first joined the Congress in 2017 and later won the 2017 assembly polls..