An alleged viral audio clip featuring Vijapur MLA C J Chavda has triggered fresh political controversy in Gujarat’s Mehsana district, intensifying discussions around factionalism within the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and allegations of money being used to engineer political defections.
In the purported audio recording circulating on social media, Chavda is allegedly heard claiming that he received ₹2 crore to leave the Congress and join the BJP before contesting Assembly elections.
The authenticity of the audio clip has not been independently verified, and no official statement had been issued by Chavda at the time of reporting.
From Congress Rebel to BJP MLA
C J Chavda won Vijapur Assembly seat as a Congress candidate in the 2017 Gujarat Assembly elections. Considered close to former Congress leader Hardik Patel during the Patidar agitation phase, Chavda had positioned himself as an influential young OBC face in Mehsana district politics.
However, in 2022, ahead of the Gujarat Assembly elections, Chavda resigned from the Congress and joined the BJP in a significant switch that reflected the steady weakening of the Congress organisation in the state. Grapevine claims he was promised a ministry by the BJP but then the BJP went back on its’ promise.
The BJP later fielded him from Vijapur, where he retained the seat under the saffron banner.
What the Alleged Clip Claims
In the now-viral clip, Chavda is allegedly heard saying that he was given ₹2 crore when he shifted from Congress to BJP and contested elections on the BJP ticket.
The purported conversation further claims that under normal circumstances, election-related support to candidates does not exceed ₹50 lakh.
The alleged remarks that he got two crore before he left Congress have reignited political debate over the role of financial inducements in party-switching and election campaigning in Gujarat politics.
The latest controversy comes amid a series of alleged leaked audio clips involving BJP leaders from Mehsana district.
Earlier this week, another purported audio clip allegedly featuring councillor Chandrakant Patel had gone viral after he was reportedly heard claiming that the political career of former Gujarat Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel was “finished”.
Before that issue subsided, yet another alleged audio clip surfaced in which Rajya Sabha MP Mayank Nayak was reportedly referred to as “zero”, fuelling further speculation about internal rivalries and factional divisions within the district BJP unit.
Political observers say the repeated emergence of such clips points toward growing internal dissatisfaction and power struggles within local BJP leadership circles in North Gujarat.
Speculation Over Timing of Recording
Political sources speculate that the alleged recording involving Chavda may date back to the period of local self-government elections, though this has not been officially confirmed.
The repeated circulation of internal conversations and alleged recordings has reportedly caused discomfort within the Gujarat BJP leadership, particularly as the clips continue to gain traction across WhatsApp groups and social media platforms.
Opposition leaders have meanwhile sought to use the controversy to question the ethics of political defections and the increasing trend of elected representatives switching parties ahead of elections.
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