Congress MLA Alpesh Thakor on Saturday clarified that he has no plans of joining the BJP amid rumours that he was upset with his party’s top brass and would switch over to the saffron party in the run-up to the 2019 elections.

Thakor, while admitting that he was angry with the leadership, said: “I am going to continue to fight for my people. I will stay in Congress and continue to support the Congress.” He said everyone liked power and he was also keen to become a minister so that he could serve his people who were facing difficulties. Thakor added that he was leading a group of people who needed a strong government.

The firebrand leader had earlier admitted that he was not happy with the way things were functioning in the Gujarat unit of the Congress. “I have stated this to the party president as well. Young deserving leaders ought to be given their due in the party and I am not referring to myself. I already have been rewarded adequately. I have made several demands for the people of the Thakor community. They are being ignored. What is the point of Alpesh Thakor getting a place in Delhi if the issues of his supporters are not addressed?”

However, many in the Congress were already of the opinion that Thakor was acting like the B-team of the BJP. A senior Congress leader said, “He has been making vague demands. This appears to be a deliberate effort by him to create an atmosphere that Thakors are not being given justice and then use it as a springboard to join the BJP. I think the sooner he joins the BJP, the better for the Congress. This is a situation exactly like the one Shankersinh Vaghela put the Congress into before the 2017 assembly election.”