Kunvarji Bavalia (R) hands over his resignation to Gujarat legislative assembly speaker Rajendra Trivedi in Gandhinagar.

Senior Congress leader and five-time MLA from Gujarat's Jasdan constituency Kunvarji Bavaliya today resigned from the party. Gujarat legislative assembly speaker Rajendra Trivedi confirmed the same saying that Bavaliya's resignation has been accepted.Soon after tendering his resignation, Bavaliya joined the Bharatiya Janata Party ( BJP ). According to Gujarat deputy chief minister Nitin Patel , Bavaliya was unhappy with the Congress.Sources said that Balaviya was unhappy with the Congress' decision of making his junior Paresh Dhanani the leader of opposition."Bavaliya sent his resignation to Congress president Rahul Gandhi as well. His supporters will also join BJP," said Nitin Patel.According to Patel, Bavaliya- who represents the Koli community- will soon be made a minister as cabinet expansion is likely soon. According to reports of some local channels, Bavaliya might take oath as a minister today itself.The Koli community is a big vote bank in Saurashtra, where BJP's performance was poor in the recently held state assembly election. With Bavaliya joining in, BJP is trying to revive in Saurashtra ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.