Amit Shah fallen and cooling heels in jail,Anandiben has a field day

The man in the line of fire is City BJP president Rakesh Shah,a confidant of jailed minister Amit Shah who is now being alleged to have switched sides in favour of Anandiben Patel.

Among the supporters of Amit Shah who have been denied tickets are Naulesh Patel,Kamlesh Tripathi,Hitesh Barot,Bipin Patel,Manish Shah,Chetan Sanghvi,Narendra Shah,Dipti Amarkotia,Laxmi Chauhan,Kirit Barot,Dilip Brahmbhatt and R D Desai.

Among the supporters of Surendra Patel,also the BJP’s state unit treasurer,who have been taken out of reckoning are BJP leader in the AMC,Dr Kamlesh Patel, Hemaxu Patel,Dr Anil Patel,Sharmishtha Patel,Tinaben Patel,Ashaben Patel,Rajendra Shah and Atul Bhavsar.

Rakesh Shah denied charges that Jain supporters of Amit Shah and the Patel community supporters of Surendra Patel have been deliberately ignored,saying the selection was done as per the criteria set by the party leadership. Asked about Paldi councillor Deepak Bhatt who quit the BJP and joined Congress a day earlier,he said,“I will look into it and we will take a decision later.”

But a senior BJP councillor who has been denied a ticket this time said Rakesh Shah was giving excuses and that it was he who decided things. “It is true that a particular community has been ignored and this is going to lead to heartburn among the supporters who have been kept out,” he said,adding many of Rakesh Shah’s relatives and friends have managed to get tickets.

Among the employees of the Ahmedabad District Co-operative Bank who managed BJP tickets are Manu Bharvad,Pritesh Mehta,former mayor Amit Shah and Ashish Patel — all four said to be close to Revenue Minister Anandiben Patel.

When asked for his comment on the changing power equations,bank chairman Ajay Patel,a close aide of Amit Shah and an accused in the Sohrabuddin fake encounter case,said he had not given it a thought.