BJP’s Sabarkantha replacement faces the heat as dissent widens
The party replaced him with Shobhnaben on March 24, a day after he withdrew from the poll race citing personal reasons.
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Meanwhile, Thakor said he has “no objections” against the party fielding Shobhnaben.
The Gujarat BJP is witnessing an unprecedented churn as voices of dissent against the party’s choice of Lok Sabha candidates have been emerging across various units. Sabarkantha BJP candidate Shobhnaben Baraiya is the latest to be at the receiving end of the rising resentment among party workers.
On Thursday, as Shobhnaben arrived for a district meeting at the party’s Kamalam office in Modasa of Aravalli, BJP workers protested by removing their party scarves. Even as she was attending the meeting, party workers who were outside the venue raised slogans in support of Bhikhabhai Thakor, who was BJP’s first choice from Sabarkantha.
The party replaced him with Shobhnaben on March 24, a day after he withdrew from the poll race citing personal reasons.
Urging the party to cancel Shobhnaben’s candidature, the protesters demanded to reinstate Thakor as the Sabarkantha candidate. Threatening to boycott the elections, Thakor’s supporters claimed they would vote only if he is the candidate.
Shobhnaben is the wife of former Congress MLA Mahendra Singh Baraiya, who switched over to the BJP around a year ago.
BJP Sabarkantha district president Kanubhai Patel said, “There are protests against a candidate initially, but being a disciplined party worker, everyone will support the decision… We will tackle the situation”. However, he denied that the party would reconsider her name.
Meanwhile, Thakor said he has “no objections” against the party fielding Shobhnaben.
Last week, sitting MP Ranjan Bhatt withdrew from the poll fray after banners emerged in Vadodara opposing her candidature. On Tuesday, posters labelling Union Health and Family Welfare Minister Mansukh Mandaviya as an “imported candidate” appeared in Rajkot.
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