The Hindu : National : Gujarat BJP dissidents unrelenting

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Wednesday, Mar 30, 2005

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National

Gujarat BJP dissidents unrelenting

By Jyotirmaya Sharma

AHMEDABAD, MARCH 29. Dissident leaders in the state Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) today reiterated their demand for the removal of the Chief Minister, Narendra Modi. This is significant in the light of moves on Mr. Modi's part for a reconciliation.

Mr. Modi met the former Chief Minister, Suresh Mehta, on Sunday to broker a peace with the dissidents. Mr. Mehta is known to be a moderate but has however been part of the dissident camp lately. However, sources close to Mr. Mehta stressed that despite the meeting with Mr. Modi the position of the former Chief Minister remained unchanged.

In the meantime, Dhirubhai Gajera, BJP MLA from Surat and Modi detractor, today ruled out any scope for reconciliation. Speaking to The Hindu, Mr. Gajera clarified that any further course of action would depend on the outcome of the meeting between top dissident leaders and the party president, L.K. Advani. "What we demand is that the party president must listen to all the MLAs and talk to them individually."

Another development that has created interest in the local media is the move by A.K. Patel, a BJP Rajya Sabha MP and a known Modi baiter, to hold a house-warming party on his son's behalf on Wednesday. It was at Mr. Patel's birthday party last year that dissent leaders like Purushottam Solanki had openly questioned Mr. Modi's leadership and demanded his removal.

Informed sources are, however, underplaying the significance of Wednesday's dinner, especially because most senior leaders are in New Delhi, hence unlikely to attend it. Moreover, dissident leaders feel that speaking on the eve of the all-crucial Thursday meeting with Mr. Advani may prove counterproductive.

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