Bharat Shah, the BJP’s Lok Sabha coordinator for Vadodara, has stepped down from his position, citing a lack of competence. This comes after a previous controversy involving candidate Ranjan Bhatt, who was replaced due to similar reasons. Now, the focus has shifted to the coordinator’s role.
On April 5, 2024, Bharat Shah unexpectedly tendered his resignation to the party’s top brass, which was promptly accepted. A new election coordinator has been assigned to the new candidate, sparking political discussions about Shah’s resignation.
Shah, a former city mayor, was appointed as the election coordinator when the BJP nominated Ranjanben Bhatt for the Vadodara Lok Sabha seat for the third consecutive time. Despite opposition to Ranjan Ben and her subsequent withdrawal from the election amid controversy, Shah remained in his role. The party then announced Dr Hemang Joshi as the new candidate.
Questions arose about who would cover the costs of the events held per electoral assembly now that Ranjan Ben is no longer a candidate. It was suggested that the party would bear these expenses, but Shah had no response. Despite repeated inquiries to the city’s BJP senior officials, no satisfactory answer was provided, according to a media report.
Despite Shah’s experience as a former city mayor, there are discussions about him being sidelined or placed in a demeaning situation, leading to his resignation. The BJP has officially stated that Shah resigned for personal reasons.
With the introduction of the new candidate, Dr Hemang Joshi, former minister and ex-city president Bhupendra Lakhawala has been appointed as the new election coordinator, with former city general minister Rakesh Patel serving as co-coordinator.
Before official details of Bharat Shah’s resignation were released, there was speculation about his departure. In response to these rumors, Shah stated, “Today and now I am a coordinator, I don’t know about tomorrow.” He added, “I live today, who knows whether I will be alive or dead tomorrow?” He dismissed the resignation rumors as false and accused the opposition party of spreading such stories. Despite this, he expressed confidence in the BJP candidate from the Vadodara seat winning by a large margin and claimed that despite internal disagreements, everyone is working together.
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