Guj assembly polls: it's likely to be Keshubhai vs Modi -Governance Now

Guj assembly polls: it's likely to be Keshubhai vs Modi

Keshubhai Patel may be projected as the chief ministerial candidate

PTI | August 6, 2012

Rebel BJP leader Keshubhai Patel, who announced the formation of a new party to take on Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi in the upcoming assembly polls, is likely to be projected as the chief ministerial candidate of the anti-Modi outfit and is hoping that a large number of dissident BJP workers will crossover.

"Keshubhai Patel is likely to be projected as the chief ministerial candidate of the new party that he has announced to form," a leader of anti-Modi group said.

The party will contest all the 182 assembly seats and is likely to have a major impact on seats having Patel population in Saurashtra and Kutch and also in Surat in South Gujarat.

The chief ministerial candidate for BJP is Modi while the principal Opposition party --Congress-- has not yet made up their mind on projecting anybody for the hot seat.

83-year-old Patel, who has come out in open against Modi in recent times is considered to be very powerful in numerically strong Patel community of the state which has been the backbone of BJP's undefeated stint of power in Gujarat for the last 15 years.

Modi would have never imagined that he would be facing such a strong rebellion from within the party and constituents of the Sangh Parivar in the run up to 2012 elections, sources close to Patel said.

For Modi, it is very important to win the state elections of 2012 with a huge margin to have a legitimate claim of being a prime ministerial candidate of his party for the 2014 elections and but for that he will first have to sail through this big rebellion ahead of the state elections led by Keshubhai.

For Keshubhai, to set up a strong party when only five months are remaining before the state elections is a challenge as it has to take on two established parties like the Congress and the BJP with the strong worker base in the state.

"We are hoping that large number of BJP dissidents, who have maintained silence so far against Modi will come out and join their party. Our worker base will be created from dissident BJP workers," sources close to Patel said.

Former Minister of State for Home, Gordhan Zadafia in Modi government, who had quit BJP in 2007 and earlier his own party Maha-Gujarat Janta Party is considered to be very close to Patel and has announced that his party will merge with the latter's outfit.

"In the last five years, my party has worked hard to garner a strong base of committed workers till booth level in our strongholds like Saurashtra and Kutch and South Gujarat.

They will give strength to Keshubhai Patel's party," Zadafia said.

On August 4, Keshubhai resigned from the BJP and annnounced that he will form a new party soon.

Comments

Other News

Gandhian movement after Gandhi failed: Ram Guha

The Gandhian movement in India, after Gandhi’s death, failed, says Ramachandra Guha, and blames Vinoba Bhave for it. But the movement found new, fertile grounds around the world and succeeded in bringing about a change in South Africa, the US and elsewhere. It is high time it returned home. Of cour

When religion, politics and Bollywood come together

Tavleen Singh, noted journalist and political commentator, has turned to fiction, with her debut novel ‘The Actor’ (HaperCollins India). Set in the near future, it has a superstar, Amit Singh, turning to politics, when the political landscape is dominated by prime minister Guru Gaynendraj

Cabinet approves setting up of Integrated Transport & Logistics Authority

The union cabinet, chaired by prime minister Narendra Modi, on Tuesday approved the setting up of a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV), called Integrated Transport & Logistics Authority (ITLA), to strengthen research, planning, appraisal, monitoring and impact assessment within the broad domains of Transp

Why foundational literacy and numeracy is key to school education

Foundational Literacy and Numeracy (FLN) are often described as the building blocks of education. Yet, their significance goes well beyond a child’s ability to read a sentence, write a response or solve a basic mathematical problem. These foundational skills shape how children understand the world,

When police data becomes the algorithm

For decades, policing has followed a familiar sequence: a crime occurs, the police respond, an investigation produces records and those records become part of the institutional memory of the criminal justice system. Artificial intelligence is beginning to alter that sequence. Instead of merely recording

Before India voted, the framers worried about the referee

“We are making a Constitution forever and not only for today.” Shibban Lal Saksena said this in the Constituent Assembly on June 15, 1949. He was warning that a ruling party might one day choose a loyalist to run India’s elections. Seventy-seven years later, the Supreme Court is wrestli