Sacked Gujarat AAP leader says joining Kejriwal-led party was 'mistake'

Ahmedabad: A day after the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) expelled him for allegedly indulging in anti-party activities, Vashram Sagathiya, who served as that party's Gujarat unit vice president, returned to the Congress on Wednesday.

Sagathiya, a Dalit leader from Rajkot, joined the Congress along with 50 other AAP workers and leaders in the presence of the grand old party's state president Shaktisinh Gohil. They were inducted into the Congress at its state headquarters here.

He said by rejoining the Congress, he has returned to the party that is like his "home", and called it a "mistake" to have joined the AAP and chosen the "wrong path" earlier.

Sagathiya worked for the Congress for more than three decades before quitting it and joining the AAP ahead of the Assembly elections held in December last year. The Arvind Kejriwal-led party then appointed him as the vice president of its Gujarat unit.

As a Congress councillor, he had earlier served as the Leader of Opposition in the Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled Rajkot Municipal Corporation.

As an AAP candidate, he fought the last Assembly election from the Scheduled Caste (SC)-reserved Rajkot Rural Assembly seat, but lost to BJP nominee Bhanuben Babariya.

On Tuesday, the AAP sacked him as its vice president state unit and also as its member alleging that he was working against the interests of the party. Notably, the decision came a day after he was seen at a foot-march organised by the state Congress.

After returning to the Congress, Sagathiya said it was his mistake to join the Kejriwal-led party.

"I went to AAP in order to defeat BJP because the ruling party is destroying our Constitution. However, it was a mistake to join AAP. I later on realised that I had chosen the wrong path. That is why I decided to return to Congress, which is like my home. I firmly believe that only Congress can save our democracy," Sagathiya said.

On the occasion, Gohil said people like Sagathiya are always welcome in the party if they remain committed to the party's ideology.

"Congress is a mass-based party and we will welcome everyone who remains committed to the party's ideology. We do not believe in use-and-throw policy. Many Congress leaders who joined the BJP were insulted. But if you come to Congress, your dignity will be maintained," Gohil said.