Ahmedabad: Former Gujarat fForest and Urban Development Minister Khumansinh Vansiya has re-joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday.

Vansia rejoined the party in the presence of state unit chief CR Paatil.

Vansia had won the 1995 election from Vagra and had served as a minister in the then Keshubhai Patel government. He switched parties before contesting the 2017 Assembly election as an independent.

Vansiya played an important role in strengthening the BJP in Bharuch and was elected as MLA from Vagra constituency in 1995.

He joined the Rashtriya Janata Party during the revolt engineered by Shankersinh Vaghela against the BJP leadership in Gujarat. When Vaghela became the chief minister, Vansia was made the minister for state for urban development.

Vansia later joined the Congress but returned to the Gujarat BJP sometime in 2005-06. In 2017, he contested as an independent from Jambusar constituency that was won by Sanjay Solanki of the Congress.