Ex-Gujarat MLA Kamini Ba resigns from Congress after levelling cash for ticket charge

Days after making shocking allegations against the party, former MLA Kamini Ba Rathod resigned from the Congress party ahead of the assembly election in Gujarat. The ex-Dehgam legislator had alleged that money was demanded from her for a ticket in elections.

In a letter to Congress Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC) president Jagdish Thakor, Kamini said she resigns from all posts of the party.

Kamini Ba levels 'cash for ticket' charge

In an exclusive conversation with Republic, the former MLA had said that she was asked to pay Rs 1 crore in lieu of a ticket for the Gujarat polls. Kamini Ba had won the Dahegam seat in the 2012 Assembly election by a narrow margin of 2297 votes but was defeated in the 2017 polls by BJP's Balrajsinh Chauhan. 

She alleged that an agent of Gujarat Congress President Jagdish Thakor demanded Rs 1 crore from her for the party ticket, failing which she can't contest from Dahegam.

"From (November) 11th, I started receiving calls. A person asked me in Gujarati- 'Where are you? Where are you going? Why are you running about? Don't take tension. You will get the ticket. Your survey is okay. All local councillors are with you'. I told him that I got to know that the state president Jagdish Bhai Thakor thinks differently and doesn't want to give me a ticket. All leaders had told me that everyone is with you and you will get a ticket definitely," she said.

Moreover, she added, "From the 12th, I started getting calls that there is a problem in giving you the ticket. He said that if you want the ticket, their demand is Rs 1 crore. Then, I told him I will think about it and let me know. Later, the person who was talking in Gujarati was making WhatsApp calls asking me to convey my decision quickly". 

Meanwhile, Congress workers in the Dahegam constituency had come out on the streets in support of Kamini Ba after she was not given a ticket to fight elections. They argued that the person who has been given a ticket this time has brought it.