A newly elected independent MLA on Friday said he would support the Bharatiya Janata Party in the Gujarat Legislative Assembly. The BJP had won 99 seats in the Assembly elections held this month, and Ratansinh Rathod’s outside support means the government will have 100 legislators supporting it in the House.

Rathod, a former Congress leader, said he would not join the BJP, PTI reported. He was elected MLA from the Lunawada constituency. The Congress had expelled him after he refused to withdraw his nomination even though the party had decided to field another candidate from Lunawada.

“I had asked for a ticket from the Congress party, but they did not give it, so I had to contest as an independent,” Rathod said.

Rathod, who has written to Gujarat Governor OP Kohli to express his support to the BJP, went to the party’s headquarters in Gandhinagar on Friday to participate in the meeting of MLAs to elect their leader. The party announced that Vijay Rupani would continue as the chief minister.