The Hindu : National : Keshubhai to stay away during polls

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Saturday, Dec 01, 2007
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Keshubhai to stay away during polls

Manas Dasgupta

GANDHINAGAR: Keshubhai Patel, former Gujarat Chief Minister and arch rival of the incumbent, Narendra Modi, said on Friday that he would campaign neither for the BJP nor the dissidents in the elections to the Assembly in December.

Talking to The Hindu, Mr. Patel denied that he had promised to campaign for the BJP. His consistent stand was that he would not campaign for the party led by Mr. Modi. On BJP general secretary Arun Jaitley meeting him on Thursday, Mr. Patel said he would not stop anyone coming to “seek his blessings,” but he had not responded to his request to campaign for the party.

Mr. Patel said he was very much a member of the BJP and would remain with the party. There was no question of his campaigning for his erstwhile colleagues because they were seeking elections on Congress ticket.

“They will have to find their own way out and technically it is not possible for me to campaign for the Congress candidates.”

Mr. Patel hinted that he would stay away from Gujarat during the elections. As a member of the Rajya Sabha, he would have to attend Parliament session. He might return to the State only after the campaign period.

Some senior dissident leaders contesting on the Congress ticket said they were not surprised. They claimed they would not have any problem fighting the BJP.

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