With the by-elections being held in eight assembly constituencies on 3 November in Gujarat, the BJP has finalised its candidates for almost all the seats. The saffron party has decided to give tickets to five of those eight MLAs who had left their party before Rajya Sabha elections. This move of the party has upset its own leaders who were seeking tickets.
Much to the chagrin of the party ticket aspirants, the BJP leadership at headquarters ‘Kamalam’ announced Akshay Patel as the candidate from Karjan. He is one of the eight MLAs who resigned from the Congress before Rajya Sabha elections.
He is one of the legislators who had joined the BJP. Patel is said to have started his campaign at the behest of Gujarat BJP chief Chandrakant Raghunath Patil. Now, the BJP leaders, who were jockeying for the ticket, are alleging that the leadership is promoting the Congress turncoat in the by-elections. They are arguing that this has led to defectors taking over a political organisation—BJP—which is a disciplined party which upholds the principle of nationalism. Their complaint is that the real party leaders who toiled for it, sweating it out for the growth of the organisation are being sidelined for those who defected from Congress to join BJP. According to the disgruntled BJP leaders, the promise to give five tickets to the Congress legislators who had resigned from their party to join BJP before Rajya Sabha polls has been fulfilled.
Sources said that tickets have been finalised for Brijesh Merja in Morbi, Jitu Chaudhary in Kaprada, Akshay Patel in Karjan, Pradyumansinh Jadeja in Abdasa and J. V. Kakadiya in Dhari’s. In Karjan.
With Akshay Patel having started his election campaign, the BJP rank and file is waiting for a signal from state party headquarters ‘Kamalam’. They are quite unhappy with the leadership’s decision to give tickets to five Congress turncoats.
In what is being seen as a move to placate the local leaders of the BJP, the party chief has decided to give ticket to Atmaram Parmar from Gadhada seat. Thus, the BJP has decided to give tickets to defectors in five of the eight seats. This despite the fact that BJP’s internal survey has found that this could prove dangerous.
Meanwhile, infighting has also begun in the Congress, with many leaders seeking tickets for the by-polls. Particularly in Abdasa, Morbi, Dhari and Gadhada, the Congress is facing infighting over tickets. Allegations are being levelled by the leaders that the Gujarat Congress leadership could not control the MLAs due to which more than 20 legislators have worn saffron scarves during the time of Amit Chavda and Paresh Dhanani. The names of Visnaj Panchani, Navalsinh Jadeja, P. C. Gadhavi and Ramesh Patel are under discussion for the Abdasa seat. Now a relative of BJP leader Chhabil Patel is also lobbying for the ticket.