Gujarat Local body polls: Hectic lobbying for tickets begins

Party leaders are now using all kinds of tricks and insinuations to corner the other factions.

As the state gets set to go to local polls, hectic lobbying is at play for ticket distribution across political parties. In the BJP, lobbyists belonging to veteran leaders are pitted against each other. Earlier this week, during a meeting held at the residence of Cabinet Minister, Vijay Rupani — who also happens to be the Guardian Minister of Vadodara — a list of candidates has been prepared for 12 out of the 19 wards, said sources in BJP.

“The seven wards will be decided in the coming days as the party is being cautious about the current scenario of events (in reference to the Patidar agitation). And despite the lobbyists at work, the state executive has asked party leaders to put up a united front to prevent more damage to the party’s image. However, at public events being held even now, one lobby refuses to share the space with the other, making the division very evident,” says a senior leader.

“The two major factions that are at play in the party are one belonging to former Vadodara MP Balkrishna Shukla, who is supported by former Vadodara Mayor Sunil Solanki. They are pitted against Bharat Dangar, who heads the BJP’s Vadodara’s city unit. Dangar is supported by the current Mayor Bharat Shah and the current Vadodara MP Ranjan Bhatt. Both the lobbies are trying to get as many party nominations for their supporters as possible,” said a BJP leader.

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He added that both the lobbies are working over-time by bringing up ‘scams and police cases’ against the other camp to build a case to deny them tickets. For instance, a rival lobby has sent dossiers of how a sitting corporator has been allegedly involved in harassing and then extorting money from builders. The hectic lobbying has meant that many leaders are visiting top party leaders in Gandhinagar where the party’s state executive is making candidates selection.

Party leaders are now using all kinds of tricks and insinuations to corner the other factions. For instance, rival factions are targeting the Dangar camp after the latter took CM Anandiben Patel to a Garba event organised by Jitendra Raiji, a close aide of Sunil Joshi. The rival camps believes that Anandiben was deliberately taken to meet Raiji to ensure that the latter had a say in the ticket distribution process.

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Gujarat local body polls

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