Shankersinh Vaghela formally announces that he is no more with the Congress Party. — TOI Ahmedabad (@TOIAhmedabad) 1500631026000

NEW DELHI: Former Gujarat chief minister Shankarsinh Vaghela formally announced on Friday that he has quit the Congress , alleging that he was not being allowed to put up a fight against the BJP "I have resigned as Leader of Opposition. I will resign as Congress MLA after the Rajya Sabha election. I am not a bonded labourer in any party, I am a free bird now," Vaghela said at a mega gathering of his supporters in Gandhinagar to mark his birthday celebrations.Vaghela, who turns 77 today, had made the the startling revelation that the Congress had ''expelled'' him preemptively out of fear that he might say something untoward during his birthday celebrations on July 21."Congress has expelled me 24 hours before. They don't know what I was going to say," Vaghela said right at the beginning of his address.He, however, asserted that he has no plans to retire from politics at the moment, fueling speculation that he may return to the BJP, which he quit a little under twenty years ago. However, he put these rumours to rest by stating unequivocally that he has no plans to join the BJP.Vaghela was a BJP rebel who had merged his Rashtriya Janata Party (RJP) with the Congress 17 years ago. After his abrupt dismissal from the party, he went on the offensive and said those who are honest and fighting for the public should not make compromises."People, who are complaining today, should have made good strategy then so that BJP must not have come to the power. But their (the Congress') small thinking and BJP's luck gave the power to BJP," Vaghela railed.Insisting that he has no interest in power or post, the former Gujarat chief minister did not fail to recount his contribution to politics and the parties he served."I sent today's PM (Narendra Modi) to the BJP working committee. I brought Anandiben Patel in politics... Introduction of RTI laws was my suggestion to bring transparency into the system," he listed.Vaghela said he is "77 not out and believes in destiny".At the same time, he didn't shy away from stating some bitter truths."The party which I built (BJP) with my blood breached my trust, made me a stranger:... I have been a victim of party's internal politics in both BJP and Congress," he said.Vaghela is miffed with the Congress, which turned down his demand that he be declared the face of the party's campaign and the CM candidate in the assembly polls. His last-ditch meetings with Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul failed to achieve desired results and it was Sonia's political secretary Ahmed Patel who finally conveyed to him that projecting him as a leader would upset the original Congressmen, that is, state party chief Bharatsinh Solanki and two former leaders of opposition in the assembly, Shaktisinh Gohil and Arjun Modhwadia. Watch Congress party sacked me 24 hours ago, says Shankersinh Vaghela