Ahmedabad: Gujarat Congress leader Paresh Dhanani has offered to resign as the Leader of Opposition in the state Assembly following the humiliating defeat of the party in the recently concluded Lok Sabha polls.
Dhanani has sent his resignation to party chief Rahul Gandhi and Congress observer for Gujarat Rajeev Satav, according to sources.
By offering his resignation in the state Assembly, Dhanani joins a dozen senior Congress leaders from across the party who have sent their resignations after the massive defeat in the general elections. The grand old party’s Punjab chief Sunil Jakhar, Jharkhand’s Ajoy Kumar and Assam’s Ripun Bora have also offered to quit following the party’s poor show in the elections.
Dhanani contested Lok Sabha election from Amreli, but lost to BJP’s Naran Kachadiya by a margin of 2,01,431 votes.
Dhanani, who belongs influential Leuva Patel community from Saurashtra region, is considered close to Congress chief Rahul Gandhi.
The BJP won all 26 Lok Sabha seats in Gujarat, repeating its 2014 poll performance. Gujarat is the home turf of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP national president Amit Shah.
The BJP has secured 1,80, 91,482 votes (62.2 % vote share) while Congress received 32.1 percent vote share in recently concluded 2019 Lok Sabha polls.