Former Gujarat CM Shankersinh Vaghela Eyes Congress Return After Almost 10 Years

Former Gujarat Chief Minister Shankersinh Vaghela is close to rejoining the Congress almost 10 years after he left it. The move comes before the Gandhinagar Municipal Corporation elections next month and the Assembly elections set for December next year according to The Indian Express.

"To throw out the BJP government, I am ready to join (the Congress)," Vaghela told The Indian Express on Tuesday. He said he had already spoken on the matter with AICC general secretary in-charge of Gujarat Randeep Singh Surjewala, Gujarat Congress chief Amit Chavda and former Union Minister Bharatsinh Solanki.

Vaghela added that his return would happen only after a meeting with Leader of Opposition (LoP) Rahul Gandhi.

Campaign Plans Return

Vaghela is 86. He quit the Congress in 2017.

He told the party leadership he was “not expecting anything from the party but wanted to give”. Vaghela also views the 2027 election as his last opportunity to make a political impact in Gujarat.

Vaghela has lined up an "aggressive campaign" from October 2 to revive the Praja Shakti Democratic Party (PSDP), which he set up in 2020. "This Assembly election is my last chance. I don’t think I can be as active later. I want to do my bit to fight the BJP," Vaghela told The Indian Express earlier this month.

About six months ago, Vaghela said he contacted Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Mukul Wasnik, then the AICC Gujarat in-charge, but neither replied. Surjewala replaced Wasnik earlier this month.

Party Divisions Emerge

Congress leaders are divided over what Vaghela brings to the table.

Chavda told reporters on Tuesday that the party had begun preparations for the 2027 Assembly elections. He added that several “dissatisfied leaders” would in the coming days share the stage with the Congress and “work cohesively to bring a change in Gujarat”.

Gujarat Congress spokesperson Manish Doshi said, “People are seeing hope in Gandhi as the leader who will save the country and the Constitution. Therefore, Congress is welcoming all like-minded people.”

However, a section of the party leadership remains wary of Vaghela, largely because of the circumstances surrounding his departure in 2017.

2017 Exit Fallout

Vaghela announced his exit from the Congress on his 77th birthday, weeks before a high-stakes Rajya Sabha election in which the late Ahmed Patel, then the political adviser to current Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP) chairperson Sonia Gandhi, won by a narrow margin.

Vaghela, then the Leader of Opposition in the Gujarat Assembly, quit four days after questions were raised about at least eight party MLAs allegedly cross-voting in the Presidential election held that month. Ram Nath Kovind secured a two-thirds majority in the election.

The 2017 Assembly election saw the Congress put up its strongest performance in Gujarat since the BJP came to power in the state in 1995. The party won 77 of 182 seats, against the backdrop of the Patidar quota agitation led by Hardik Patel.

The Congress’s position in Gujarat has since declined sharply. It currently has 12 MLAs in the 182-member Assembly, not enough to claim the post of Leader of Opposition. The party won no Lok Sabha seats from Gujarat in 2014 or 2019. In 2024, it won one seat — Banaskantha, which is currently represented by Geniben Thakor.

Earlier Return Attempts

In 2021, a year after Patel’s death, Vaghela had expressed interest in returning to the Congress ahead of the local body elections. According to people close to him, after Patel’s death, Vaghela hoped the Congress would see him as a “mentor and strategist” and consider taking him back. However, that did not happen.

Now, Solanki, who was GPCC chief when Vaghela left the Congress, is among those working for his return. “I have been trying to bring him back for a year-and-a-half,” he told The Indian Express on Tuesday. While leaving the final decision to the party high command, he said, “Our aim is to defeat the BJP in Gujarat using all the resources we have.”

Vaghela’s association with the Congress dates back to the 1990s. After breaking away from the BJP in 1996, he founded the Rashtriya Janata Party (RJP) and became Chief Minister of a Congress-backed government. He has publicly credited Ahmed Patel with helping facilitate the alliance. The RJP later merged with the Congress.

Ahead of the 2002 Assembly election, held in the aftermath of the Godhra riots, Vaghela was appointed Gujarat Congress chief. He subsequently served as a Union Minister in the first UPA government led by Manmohan Singh.