Ahmedabad: In a setback to the Congress in Gujarat ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, its MLA Kalu Dabhi resigned from the party's primary membership on Thursday after he was denied ticket for the parliamentary election.

However, state Congress spokesperson Manish Doshi said Dabhi's resignation was not accepted and that efforts would be made to pacify him. Dabhi wanted to contest the Lok Sabha poll from Kheda constituency, where the Congress has fielded Bimal Shah, a former minister who quit the BJP to join the opposition party in January. Unhappy over Shah's candidature, Dabhi resigned from the party on Thursday.