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BJP dissidents hold strategy session

Special Correspondent

Not to contest elections under the leadership of Narendra Modi

Some dissidents are openly talking about “taking Congress help” to defeat Modi
The party would fight and win under Modi’s leadership: Jaitley

NEW DELHI: With the Assembly elections staring them in the face, senior BJP dissident leaders from Gujarat met at a day-long strategy session at the residence of the former Chief Minister Keshubhai Patel here on Thursday.

Apart from Mr. Patel, the former Chief Minister Suresh Mehta, the former Home Minister Gordhan Zadaphia and Vallabhai Kathiria, MP, were among those present.

In a brief statement, they said they would not contest the elections under the leadership of Chief Minister Narendra Modi.

Soon afterwards, Arun Jaitley, BJP general secretary in-charge of the elections in Gujarat, said the party would contest “and win” under Mr. Modi’s leadership.

The dissidents made it clear that whether Mr. Patel came out openly or not, they would work out their strategy under his guidance. “We want to liberate Gujarat from Mr. Modi,” the statement said.

The central party leadership is in a bind on the issue of taking firm disciplinary action against the dissidents. While some of them, Mr. Zadaphia included, were suspended and even thrown out of the party earlier, so far no action has been taken against Mr. Patel and Mr. Mehta. Senior leaders admit privately that any action against Mr. Patel may be counterproductive as he commands the loyalty of the numerically strong Patidar community, which dominates Saurashtra. After the recent successful dissident rally in Rajkot attended by Patels, the BJP leadership does not want to do anything that would further push the Patels away from the party.

The official party position on the dissident activity is that in selection of candidates, the BJP may want to field a large number of new faces. This clearly means a number of sitting MLAs may be denied ticket. “Fearing this, many of them have become dissidents as they are fighting a battle to survive politically,” a BJP leader said recently.

Some dissidents are openly talking about “taking Congress help” to defeat Mr. Modi, a point to which Mr. Jaitley responded sharply: “Can they simultaneously be in the BJP and help the Congress and float a third front?”

While the dissidents have for long been talking about Mr. Modi’s “anti-democratic attitude” — both Mr. Patel and more recently, Mr. Mehta criticised him strongly — there are also some startling facts on the ground supporting the criticism: over 400 suicides by farmers since 2003, a known fact but it surfaced only after dogged attempts to get the information using the Right to Information Act.

The BJP is depending on the post Godhra Hindu-Muslim divide, and the “vibrant Gujarat” slogan coined by Mr. Modi. But some leaders admit to a nagging doubt that “vibrant Gujarat” could go the way of “India Shining.”

The dissidents said they would unveil their election war-plan after Friday, which marks the beginning of the auspicious Navaratri days.

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