Fighting Modi,Keshubhai & Co head for Delhi to meet BJP brass

“Keshubhai will be meeting senior party leaders L K Advani,Murli Manohar Joshi,Sushma Swaraj as also Sanjay Joshi,” Mehta said,adding he would not meet party president Nitin Gadkari who is busy with preparations for his son’s marriage.

“Keshubhai is going to Delhi to inform the central leadership about the situation prevailing in the party here,” said the former chief minister who was earlier thrown out of the BJP for rebelling against Modi.

“This meeting is a very crucial phase of our decision-making process. Our future course of action will depend upon the outcome of the meeting that we will have with party’s central leadership,” Mehta said.

Though the anti-Modi camp is not hopeful of getting any major reprieve from BJP’s central leadership,they want to go step by step,sources said. “We cannot jump the gun and take a decision. That is the reason we are going to meet the leadership to first apprise them of the real situation in the state,” Mehta said.

Keshubhai,who was unceremoniously removed from the chief minister’s post in 2001 and was replaced with Modi,has decided this time to fight back,banking on the numerically-strong Patel community.

In the last few months,Keshubhai has openly criticised Modi at various public meetings. He had alleged that the people of Gujarat,especially the members of his Patel community,were living in fear under Modi rule.

Zadaphia,who will go to Delhi tomorrow,will hold a press conference at the Press Club of India “to highlight facts about the state”,sources close to him said.

When asked about Keshubhai leaving the BJP and joining the MJP or forming a third front,Mehta said,”We have kept our all options open.”