Gujarat BJP, Congress besieged by ticket rows

A day before the last date of filing of nominations for the first phase of Gujarat Assembly elections, the offices and homes of senior leaders of the BJP and the Congress witnessed much turmoil. Those denied ticket for the crucial elections have been creating mayhem at many places across the State since last night.

And this may only be the beginning. The real campaign will start only after the last date of withdrawals of nominations for the two phases (November 24 and 30) for polling to be held on December 9 and 14 respectively.

The Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS), the new kid on the block, was the first to trigger trouble for its poll partner, the Congress. The outfit that has spearheaded an agitation since 2015 demanding reservation for the Patidar community, appeared to be disintegrating, with most of the supporters of quota warrior Hardik Patel either joining the BJP or just breaking away from him.

Amid unprecedented dissidence in the rank and file of an already unorganised PAAS, Hardik’s second-in-command Dinesh Bambhania, who discussed the quota issue with the Congress, went hammer and tongs against the grand old party, accusing it of “unilaterally” announcing ticket for two PAAS members.

His supporters went on a rampage, causing arson and road-blockade in Surat and vandalising the Congress office here. Sensing trouble, Hardik had to cancel his “announcement” at Rajkot, where Chief Minister Vijay Rupani filed his nomination on Monday, and skipped another event at Gondal town. Another PAAS convenor, Naresh Patel, accused Bambhania of having struck a “deal” with the BJP or the NCP to finish off the outfit.

By nominating two PAAS leaders, the Congress stirred a hornet’s nest as angry Patidar youths created pandemonium at different places in the State, picketed Gujarat Congress chief Bharatsinh Solanki’s house in Ahmedabad and announced plans to create more trouble for the Congress candidates just nominated.

Solanki, who was reported to be unhappy with AICC General Secretary in-charge Ashok Gehlot over the ticket issue, went incommunicado for several hours, the agitators complained.

Meanwhile, there was still no clarity until Monday evening on the Congress’s stand on the quota issue and, amid a stalemate, PASS and Congress leaders continued to throw criticisms against each other on “deadlines” and other counts.

Even as the BJP is chalking out a campaign blitzkrieg to start with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s two-dozen-odd public meetings, scheduled to begin in the next few days, the Congress, despite its promising revival in the last couple of months, appeared to be frittering away the gains it may have made, as the party was rocked with intra-party dissidence as well as PAAS attacks. In particular, the first list of 77 candidates opened a can of worms — murmurs over ticket being allotted to ‘newcomers’ gave way to open defiance. Even the GPCC chief, till recently seen as the party’s possible chief ministerial candidate, was said to be “uninterested” in fighting the poll himself.

The ruling BJP, despite being cadre-based, was not free from this virus of dissidence, particularly after what is being seen as ‘elimination’ of key supporters of former CM Anandiben Patel. Her cousin and minister Vasuben Trivedi and former minister IK Jadeja are among those dropped from the party’s candidacy. Anandiben, 75, had already announced her “retirement” a few weeks ago.

On Monday, the Sindhi community accused the BJP of “ignoring” it as Akhil Sindhi Samaj , Gujarat, threatened to boycott polls if it did not get representation in ticket allocation.

Late last week, Jethabhai Solanki, sitting BJP MLA from Kodinar constituency and parliamentary secretary, resigned from all posts and the party for being dropped. Senior BJP MPs Prabhatsinh Chauhan and Liladhar Vaghela also lambasted their own party for not giving ticket to their wards. The spate of resignations by dissidents at different levels of the party continued.

On Monday, the BJP released its third list of candidates with 28 names, wherein it dropped 15 sitting MLAs, including Vasuben Trivedi. The BJP also dropped three ministers from the Patidar community — Nanu Vanani, Jayanti Kavadiya and Vallabh Vagahsia. The party has so far announced 134 of 182 nominations.

The AAP, with its negligible presence in the State, has seen turmoil as well. But its tallest leader, Kanu Kansaria, a former BJP leader, filed his nomination as an Independent candidate in Bhavnagar.

The NCP expressed displeasure with the Congress over “seat-sharing”. Senior NCP leader Praful Patel told the media that the party will contest all the 182 seats on its own and provide a “third option” to the voters.

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