The Hindu : National : Former Gujarat Minister quits BJP

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Thursday, Sep 07, 2006

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National

Former Gujarat Minister quits BJP

Special Correspondent

He was suspended from party last week

AHMEDABAD: Further deepening the crisis in the Gujarat Bharatiya Janata Party, former Minister Nalin Bhatt on Wednesday resigned from the primary membership of the party.

A member of the BJP for the last 35 years and having occupied the post of Minister twice, besides being one of the party general secretaries, Mr. Bhatt was suspended from the party last week by the Vadodara unit president, Shabdasharan Brahmbhatt, for criticising the State and the BJP-controlled Vadodara municipal corporation administrations for their alleged failure to meet the recent flood situation.

Launching a tirade against the Chief Minister, Narendra Modi, and the national general secretary and in-charge of the Gujarat affairs, Om Prakash Mathur, Mr. Bhatt, considered a close associate of the dissident leader and former Chief Minister, Keshubhai Patel, said even after quitting the party he would continue to fight against the "autocratic and dictatorial" attitude of Mr. Modi and Mr. Mathur which was "ruining" the BJP in its stronghold of Gujarat.

Mr Bhatt's suspension had evoked strong protests from a section of the BJP and the disciplinary action met with resignations by at least 40 former corporators and city and taluk unit office-bearers of the party in Vadodara while many of the dissident leaders came out openly criticising the party leadership for his suspension.

A BJP member of the Assembly from Rajkot, Sidhhartha Parmar, was among the first few to openly side with Mr. Bhatt against Mr Modi's leadership.

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