The BJP has always been known as a very disciplined, cadre-based party. For the first time since its inception, there are visible rebellion and protests happening over ticket allocation and non allocation in Gujarat
Within the Gujarat BJP, disagreement over ticket distribution grew, with several stalwarts getting left out in the process and announcing to run as independents. The union home minister, Amit Shah, hurried to Gujarat and held a marathon meeting with local BJP leaders at party headquarters in Shri Kamalam. As Shah arrived, the BJP called former Revenue Minister Rajendra Trivedi and MLA Yogesh Patel to the BJP headquarters for discussions after several BJP leaders resigned and declared they would run for office as independents. Following their denial of tickets for the Vadodara constituencies of Raopura and Manjalpur, Trivedi and Patel both protested.
Meanwhile, BJP’s former MLA, Jigna Pandya, from Wadhwan in Surendranagar district, wrote a letter to the party to say that she is no longer willing to contest polls from her seat. However, the party was unable to decide on the names of a few constituencies, including Ahmedabad, Gandhinagar, and North Gujarat, as a result of protests from BJP dissident leaders.
The Kheralu seat in North Gujarat is also experiencing protests against the BJP. The same position exists at the Nirzar seat, as incumbent MLA Zankhna Patel has been dropped. Arvind Ladani, a former MLA for the BJP in Keshod, has left the party and chosen to run for office as an independent.
The BJP has deputed Minister of State for Home Harsh Sanghvi to convince dissidents like Madhu Srivastav (Waghodia seat), Satish Patel (Karjan) and Dinesh Patel (Padra) to return to the party fold. For the meeting the BJP called, none of the three showed up. Meanwhile, Harsh Sanghvi told local leaders to get above rebellion to ensure victory for BJP candidates. BJP spokesperson Yamal Vyas said that “there is no fight in the party.”
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