The ruling BJP continues to face protests and rebellion in over 15 of the 106 seats for which the party has announced candidates for the Assembly elections in December. On Sunday, hundreds of party workers from across the State thronged the party headquarters in Gandhinagar to meet the top brass of the party to press for a change of candidates.
Prabhatsinh Chaudhan, Godhra MP, and Liladhar Vaghala, Banaskantha, MP, have threatened to resign from the party if their demand for ticket is ignored.
Mr. Chauhan is seeking ticket for his wife from the Kalol Assembly segment in Godhra district, while Mr. Vaghela is seeking ticket for his son from the Deesa Assembly seat in Banaskantha district.
“I have asked the party to give ticket to my son because I have worked for the party and district. If my son is not selected, I will have no option but to resign from the party as MP,” Mr. Vaghela told presspersons in Palanpur.
Similarly in Godhra, Mr. Chauhan has made it clear that he wants ticket for his wife from Kalol.
Attacks sitting MLA
“I have told the party to drop the sitting MLA because he is very corrupt and instead field my wife from there. She is already taluka panchayat president,” Mr. Chauhan said.
“She will contest as an Independent if not fielded by the party and then I will have to resign from the BJP.”
Both parliamentarians are seasoned grassroots leaders belonging to the OBC community and have considerable sway in their respective districts.
Moreover, the ruling party is facing protests in Nandod, where the sitting MLA Shabdasharan Tadvi has been retained, Dabhoi, Morva Hadaf, where the sitting MLA has been dropped, and many other places. There were protests in Surat East where the sitting MLA has been dropped. In Anand district, angry workers tore down party posters and banners after the candidates were announced.
“At some places, the situation is serious and the top leaders of the party are involved in damage control exercise. Party president Amit Shah also talked to several leaders to deal with local bigwigs not happy with the party’s choice of candidates,” a BJP leader said.
