When asked about the reason for his decision, Solanki alleged public dissatisfaction due to harassment by anti-social elements in the Kodinar area. (Image source: @INCGujarat/X)CITING “public dissatisfaction due to harassment by anti-social elements”, former BJP MLA from Kodinar and prominent political face in Saurashtra J D Solanki returned to the Congress a little over a year before the assembly elections are due in Gujarat.The move came at a meeting of the Gujarat Pradesh Congress held in Rajkot on Thursday in the presence of several national and state Congress leaders, including the party’s state in-charge Randeep Surjewala.Solanki, who also served as a Parliamentary Secretary in the Government of Gujarat, joined the BJP and won Kodinar in 2012. However, in 2017, he resigned and also relinquished other positions he held. This had led to speculations of his possible return to the Congress.When asked about the reason for his decision, Solanki alleged public dissatisfaction due to harassment by anti-social elements in the Kodinar area. He added that his return was fuelled by public grievances against local BJP leaders and not by any personal gains.“Anti-social elements are ruling the region (Kodinar)… the entire administration is in the hands of a few anti-social elements. There is no development here. People are harassed by anti-social elements in Kodinar and their hardships are increasing each day. Farmers and locals are struggling to get even the smallest of their work done because of the anti-social elements,” he said.However, he added that he had not faced harassment personally and his decision was only because of people facing difficulties in their everyday lives. He added that while the region still lacked basic facilities, every community was hit by inflation among other issues.“Because of this dissatisfaction among the residents, local leaders urged me to return to the Congress. It is only because of the respect towards the sentiments of people here that I decided to join the Congress,” he added.Story continues below this adIn view of the elections next year, this is considered a significant development in Saurashtra politics. The Congress convened the Saurashtra zonal meeting to strengthen its organisation ahead of the elections.