The Hindu : National : Gujarat BJP dissidents to don Opposition role

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Monday, Sep 12, 2005

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National

Gujarat BJP dissidents to don Opposition role

Manas Dasgupta

GANDHINAGAR: A truncated but significant session of the Gujarat Assembly is scheduled to begin here from Monday with the dissidents in the ruling BJP all set to play the role of the "Opposition'' in a bid to embarrass the Narendra Modi Government in the State.

Convened mainly to meet the constitutional obligation to hold a session within six months of the last session during which the State budget was passed, Mr. Modi has called for only a three-day meet of the Assembly. He has so far refused to concede the demands of the opposition Congress and his own disgruntled MLAs to extend the session at least for three weeks to enable them to air grievances of people in their respective constituencies.

Dissidents meet

The dissidents, who claim to have already mustered a support of more than 50 MLAs in the 129-member BJP legislature party, met here on Monday in different groups to finalise their strategy while the official meeting of the BJP legislature party to be presided over by Mr. Modi will be held two hours before the Assembly session on Monday morning to discuss the party's stand on various issues.

The Congress with its 51 members wants to raise issues concerning the alleged failure of the government machinery to provide relief to the flood-affected, power shortage, growing unemployment and other problems which will provide the necessary fodder to the dissidents to ask embarrassing questions to the Government.

Though the session is expected to be stormy, the dissidents are unlikely to take any step to harm the party government despite being very unhappy over the national president, L. K. Advani's stand to "protect'' Mr. Modi. "We are very close to our goal,'' a senior dissident leader remarked, but said no attempt would be made to topple the Modi Government.

Party sources said instructions had come to the dissidents from some senior central leaders opposed to Mr. Advani to "lie low'' for the time being till the high command sorted out its own leadership crisis and the differences between the former Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, and Mr. Advani over the Madan Lal Khurana issue.

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