Lok Sabha nominations trigger trouble for BJP in key state Gujarat

It is the BJP and not the Congress that is facing bitter infighting over nominations of the Lok Sabha candidates. Several Gujarat BJP leaders have openly come out against the nominees chosen by the party.

So far, there have been protests against the candidature of Ranjan Bhatt in Vadodara, Bhikhaji Thakor in Sabarkantha, Dhaval Patel in Valsad and Rekha Chaudhary in Banaskathana.

The problems began a day after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) announced its second candidates’ list for the Lok Sabha battle.

MLA quits

Gujarat BJP MLA Ketan Inamdar resigned in an email sent to Gujarat Assembly Speaker Shankar Chaudhary, only to take back his resignation by the end of the day.

Inamdar said in his letter: “I am resigning after listening to my inner voice. For the longest time, I have felt that small and old workers associated with the party have not been taken care of by the BJP. I have apprised the leadership of this. I have represented the Savli seat for more than 11 years since I became an active member of the BJP.

“But like I had said in 2020, there is nothing bigger than self-respect. This is not the voice of Ketan Inamdar alone but of every single party worker of the unit. I have said earlier that old party workers should not be ignored.”

Takes U-turn

After a dramatic statement to the media confirming he had quit, Inamdar took a dramatic U-turn in the evening saying his issues have been heard and hence he was taking back his resignation.

However, problems continued to plague the BJP even after Inamdar said he would stay on in the party.

The next day, Jyoti Pandya, the national vice president of the Rashtriya Mahila Morcha, the party’s women wing, and a former Mayor of Vadodara, openly protested against the move to field two-time MP Ranjan Bhatt from Vadodara.

Leader’s outburst

“I have been working for the party for 30 years. I am not a leader who has come from the opposition party. I have traveled across the country for the party leaving my family behind. I want to ask the party, what am I am lacking? I am a doctor, and the BJP is in my DNA,” Pandya said.

“Cities like Ahmedabad and Surat are developing while Vadodara lags behind. I know it is a suicide speaking against the party as BJP is at its peak right now but I told my party early in the morning that I didn’t want to work,” added Pandya.

Protest sparks suspension

Soon after Pandya’s outburst, she was suspended “with immediate effect” following which she resigned from the party and all her posts.

“The BJP has so much power now that nobody is allowed to speak their mind without getting suspended,” complained Pandya.

Noticeably, Bhatt has been a two-term MP from the seat and has been nominated a third time. She first won the seat in 2014 with a record 3 lakh margin. In 2019, she won again in a by-election after Prime Minister Narendra Modi vacated the seat and chose to represent Varanasi.

Damor or Thakor?

Another case of infighting came to the surface in Sabarkantha constituency after a pamphlet was circulated widely on social media against BJP candidate Bhikhaji Thakor from the seat.

“What is his caste identity? Is he a Damor or Thakor? He used to write Damor long time back and now he is filing nomination with surname Thakor,” read the pamphlet, suggesting that Bhikhaji might be a Damor, considered a lower caste than Thakors in social hierarchy who form the majority in Sabarkantha.

The BJP fielded a new candidate for Sabarkantha this time, dropping sitting member Dipsinh Thakor. Bhikhaji Thakor is the general secretary of the BJP’s Aravalli district unit. He is also the vice chairman of Sabarkantha Bank and is the chairman of the Agriculture Produce Market Committee (APMC), Meghraj.

More anger

After the pamphlet was widely circulated on WhatsApp, Bhikhaji cleared the air at Himmatnagar.

“I belong to the Thakor community and have served in different posts of OBC front of BJP. Besides, there is a section within the Thakor community that uses the surname Damor. There are around 50,000 such voters in Sabarkantha seat alone,” said Bhikhaji Thakor.

Similar protests have also surfaced in Banaskthan in North Gujarat where the BJP dropped sitting MP Prabhatbhai Patel and nominated Rekhaben Choudhary, its only woman candidate from Gujarat.

Banaskantha row

“Banaskantha has always been a weak spot for the BJP due to a large concentration of Dalit and Muslim voters in Siddpur, Vadgam and Vav talukas that are loyal voters of the Congress. It’s tricky winning Banaskakantha. The BJP always fielded candidates who can bring Patels and Thakors together to vote for the party. Many workers doubt if Rekhaben has that kind of hold on the two communities,” said a BJP leader from Banaskantha.

After the protests within its Banaskantha unit, BJP state president CR Patil met all the MLAs and leaders from the district and told them to mobilize efforts to secure a victory for the party candidate.

‘Outsider’ charge

Rekhaben Choudhary is the granddaughter of Galbabhai Chaudhary, the founder of Banas Dairy, a division of the Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation.

The BJP’s selection of Dhaval Patel as its candidate for the Valsad (ST) seat in South Gujarat has also sparked discontent.

“Dhaval Patel as an outsider to the constituency. Choosing him against the Congress candidate Anant Patel, who has a strong base, is not a wise decision,” said a local leader of the BJP’s Valsad unit.

Social media personality

Dhaval Patel is one of the new Lok Sabha candidates for the BJP. A national social media in charge of the BJP Schedule Tribe Morcha, Patel is based out of Surat, which is about 100 km from Valsad.

Dhaval, who has authored a book, Bharat ke Janjatiya Krantiveer; Swatantrata Sangram ki 75 Ansuni Kahaniya, is one of the popular social media persons of the BJP on X (Twitter).

BJP's social media campaign

Before joining the party in 2021, the BTech graduate worked as a computer engineer in various companies such as IBM, Capgemini and Accenture across the US, Europe, Southeast Asia and the Middle East.

Amid the protests in several districts, the Gujarat BJP has launched a social media campaign – “Hun Saathe Chhu” (I am with you).

The party has also called certain BJP leaders to meet state party chief CR Patil as it mulls over a probable replacement in the candidate list in response to the protests.