- The party is apparently not taking any chances as the elections are turning out to be a three-way fight this time
- Out of 20 Congress turncoats joined the BJP, almost all of them have been given tickets, including Hardik Patel.
- Important Patidar, tribal and OBC leaders have been given tickets to ensure more seats.
NE NEWS SERVICE
GANDHINAGAR, NOV 15
Union Home Minister and BJP’s trouble-shooter Amit Shah prevailed over the rebels with elderly love, stating that winnability matters the most in this Assembly elections and their contributions to the party’s growth should not go in vain.
गांधीनगर लोकसभा की साबरमती और वेजलपुर विधानसभा के चुनाव कार्यालयों में कार्यकर्ताओं से भेंट कर बैठक की।
ગાંધીનગર લોકસભા ક્ષેત્રના સાબરમતી અને વેજલપુર વિધાનસભાના ચૂંટણી કાર્યાલય ખાતે કાર્યકર્તાઓ સાથે મુલાકાત તેમજ બેઠક કરી. pic.twitter.com/5gfyLM9W4U
— Amit Shah (Modi Ka Parivar) (@AmitShah) November 13, 2022
For this damage-control mission, Amit Shah has formed a panel consisting of his trusted lieutenants and senior leaders – Mansukh Mandaviya, Harsh Sanghvi, Vijay Rupani and Parshottam Rupala -to win over the rebels with ‘love and compassion’ as they are ‘our family members’.
प्रधानमंत्री @narendramodi जी के आग्रह पर रूस और यूक्रेन ने 72 घंटों तक युद्ध रोक भारतीय छात्रों को जाने दिया यह हर भारतीय के लिए गौरव की बात है।
यह दुनिया भर में भारत के बढ़ते प्रभाव का परिचायक है। pic.twitter.com/vQloEp6ByJ
— Amit Shah (Modi Ka Parivar) (@AmitShah) November 14, 2022
This comes a day after scores of BJP workers protested at the party’s headquarters, Kamalam, in Gandhinagar over the tickets from some seats. The party has so far announced 160 of 182 candidates, and already dropped over 40 MLAs.
जब से हमारी पार्टी बनी तब से 'यूनिफॉर्म सिविल कोड' हमारा मुद्दा है।
हमने अपने सभी घोषणा पत्र में यूनिफॉर्म सिविल कोड की बात की है।
– श्री @AmitShah #AmitShahOnAajTakhttps://t.co/Vu9ATUMnvA
— BJP Gujarat (@BJP4Gujarat) November 15, 2022
Out of 20 Congress turncoats joined the BJP, almost all of them have been given tickets, including Hardik Patel.
Ten-time MLA and tribal leader Mohan Rathwa joined the BJP on November 8 and his son Rajendrasinh Rathva’s candidature was announced from Chhota Udepur (ST) two days later.
Important Patidar, tribal and OBC leaders have been given tickets to ensure more seats.
“A team of state leaders has been given the job to talk to the disgruntled ones,” said a source in the party.
In power in Gujarat for 27 consecutive years, the party has partly tried this approach in the past few days, deputing state home minister Harsh Sanghavi. But at least four rebels didn’t meet him.
Now that Amit Shah is in Gujarat since Sunday, he has held a high-level meeting with the state’s top leaders to discuss a reconciliation plan. The meeting went on for five hours, sources said.
Amit Shah, it is learnt, said that the rebels have been associated with the BJP family for a long time. “Deal with them with love and compassion,” he’s learnt to have told the state leadership.
Vadodara strongman Madhubhai Srivastav, a six-time MLA said, he’ll contest as an Independent and rued having joined the BJP.
In Gujarat, which votes on December 1 and 5, the party has “never seen this kind of resentment”, and it “needs to be dealt with immediately”, said a top leader who asked not to be named.
The party is apparently not taking any chances as the elections are turning out to be a three-way fight this time. While the Congress, which increased its vote share and seats last time, has kept its campaign low-key, the Aam Aadmi Party has held a high-decibel campaign on what it calls “a friendly match” between the two main parties.
In the last assembly polls, in 2017, the BJP won 99 seats and Congress got 77. Defections and resignations from the Congress have since taken the BJP to 111.
The AAP made no impact last time, but has since won again in Delhi and this year in Punjab — the reason why it’s confident of a turnaround in Gujarat.
