Day after Chhotu Vasava says BTP, JD(U) are in alliance, his son denies it
On Monday, BTP founder Chhotu Vasava held a meeting with JD(U) delegates from Bihar, following which he announced the alliance.
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Chhotu Vasava was a JD(U) MLA from Jhagadia, an ST-reserved seat, from 2002 to 2017. (File)A day after Bhartiya Tribal Party (BTP) president and Jhagadia MLA Chhotu Vasava announced that his party has entered a pre-poll alliance with its parent party Janata Dal (United) for the Gujarat Assembly polls, his son and Dediapada MLA who is also president of the BTP, Mahesh Vasava indicated a rift between them, saying a decision on alliance will be taken at the party’s parliamentary board meeting in the coming days.
On Monday, BTP founder Chhotu Vasava held a meeting with JD(U) delegates from Bihar, following which he announced the alliance. He also announced that Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and other JD(U) leaders would campaign in Gujarat. However, Mahesh Vasava was not present at the meeting.
When contacted about the alliance on Tuesday, Mahesh said, “At present, I can’t say anything on this. We will come to a conclusion only after a meeting with senior leaders of the party.”
Chhotu Vasava was a JD(U) MLA from Jhagadia, an ST-reserved seat, from 2002 to 2017. He has retained the seat since 1990, once as independent. In 2017, he got elected as BTP candidate after he parted ways with JD(U). Chhotu Vasava and his team also parted their ways from JD(U) and formed BTP, and contested the 2017 elections in Gujarat.
Earlier, the BTP was in alliance with the Congress that was broken in 2020. In February 2021, it forged an alliance with AIMIM but the parties called it quits later and in April this year, the BTP held a joint rally with Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Chanderiya, announcing an alliance which the BTP called off unilaterally. In September Chhotu announced that it was ending its tie-up with the AAP, while the AAP denied having formed an official alliance with the BTP.
Chetar Vasava, a close confidante of Chhotu Vasava, who played an important role in the victory of Mahesh Vasava in last assembly elections, joined the AAP recently. The AAP also declared Chetar a candidate from Dediapada seat. The BJP which is eyeing the tribal votebank and is looking for allies, could find one in Mahesh, who wants to save his seat, say sources.
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