Is BJP chief CR Patil on a secret mission?
Gujarat’s state president Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) CR Patil is a point of discussion in Gujarat assembly elections these days. Before the assembly elections were announced, he used to be very active, but as soon as the elections were announced, he started disappearing. For the past few days, there is a discussion in Gujarat that Patil is missing from campaigning for the first phase of polling, even though he is doing minimal campaigning in his home region South Gujarat. If sources are to be believed, Patil is engaged in behind-the-scenes arrangements instead of campaigning.
PM on a mission to woo Patidars in Surat
South Gujarat is considered a stronghold of the BJP, but due to the Patidar movement, earlier the Congress and now the Aam Aadmi Party are trying to snatch this stronghold from the BJP. This time AAP’s entire focus is on Surat. The party has fielded its party president Gopal Italiya from the Katargam seat and state general secretary Manoj Sorathiya from Karjan seat from Surat. It is a clear indication that the AAP party is eyeing the BJP’s Patidar vote bank of Surat. Sources are claiming that Prime Minister Modi held a meeting with Patidar leaders and diamond industrialists in Surat on Sunday.
Former minister, BJP leader joins Congress
Former Gujarat health minister Jay Narayan Vyas, who resigned from BJP on November 5, joined the Congress on Monday. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge inducted the 75-year-old minister into the party at Congress headquarters in Ahmedabad. Vyas was a minister in the BJP government in Gujarat when Narendra Modi was the chief minister. Vays was with BJP for more than 30 years and he was not happy with the state party leadership for long, he also wrote in a sarcastic way many times against the BJP’s local leadership.
Dilip Singh Kshatriya
Our correspondent in Gujarat
dilipsingh@ newindianexpress.com