After protests from local cadres, two candidates of BJP in Gujarat, Ranjanben Bhatt, the sitting MP from Vadodara, and Bhikhaji Thakor, the party’s candidate for Sabarkantha, have announced that they are unwilling to contest the Lok Sabha elections from their respective constituencies.
Their names were announced in the BJP’s first list. Ms. Bhatt was repeated by the party for the third time, while Mr. Thakor was picked as a fresh candidate in place of a sitting MP from Sabarkantha in North Gujarat.
According to party sources, there were protests by the local partyworkers against their candidacy.
Leaders, partyworkers upset
Ms. Bhatt announced on social media that she will not contest the upcoming Lok Sabha polls due to “personal reasons” after a section of cadres protested and posters against her candidacy sprung up in a few places in Vadadara. After her ticket was announced by the party, a section of local cadres were upset and took to social media to vent their anger and frustration at the sitting parliamentarian.
Jyoti Pandya, a senior leader and former mayor of Vadodara, was even suspended by the party as the vice president of BJP national women wing. After she was suspended, Ms. Pandya criticised the party for repeating for the third time from Vadodara. “There was widespread anger against her from the local workers and cadres,” a BJP leader from Vadodara said.
A few days ago, Ketan Inamdar, the party’s MLA from Savali in Vadodara district, had also “resigned” reportedly because of the party’s decision to repeat Ms. Bhatt for the third time. However, he withdrew his resignation after the meeting with the state party chief C.R. Paatil.
According to party insiders, Mr. Inamdar was also upset that Ms. Bhatt was fielded by the party despite her poor performance as a two time parliamentarian from Vadodara. “She did not remain connected with local workers and her behaviour towards local functionaries of the BJP and legislators was not good,” a party leader said.
In case of Sabarkantha, party sources said that Mr. Thakor’s selection did not go down well with the local cadres in this OBC-dominated seat. In fact, a section of local leaders even questioned his caste credentials, contending that he was a tribal who had changed his caste to Thakor to contest the poll in this Thakor dominated seat.
There has been no statement or reaction from the state BJP so far on the announcements of two candidates on their personal social media accounts.
