Gujarat minister quits, turns heat on Modi

Unghad arrived at the BJP state headquarters in an ambulance—he said he’s not been keeping good health after Modi’s ‘‘mental torture’’ at a Cabinet meeting—and handed over the letter to state chief Vajubhai Vala.

Unghad’s aides said that after he left the BJP office, he had complained of chest pain and was admitted to a hospital in Bapunagar. Vala, however, said Modi had denied Unghad’s charges.

Later in the day, the Information Department stated that the Cabinet had written to the Governor, recommending that Unghad be relieved of his post.

Speaking to The Indian Express, Government spokesman and Urban Development Minister I K Jadeja said, ‘‘The Chief Minister has recommended to the Governor to relieve Unghad from his post.’’ Asked when the order removing Unghad would be released, Jadeja said, ‘‘It is only a matter of formality now. It will be done.’’

The rebels, meanwhile, are stepping up their oust-Modi campaign, unfazed by the warning sounded by the party high-command through the suspension of Madan Lal Khurana in Delhi.

The first batch of rebel MLAs left for Delhi by train tonight after attending a meeting of Keshubhai loyalists at MLA Mayaben Kodnani’s residence in Ahmedabad. It is learnt that they worked on the representation they plan to submit to the high-command.

Among those who left for Delhi were former agriculture minister and Lathi MLA Bechar Badhani, Dhanraj Kella, Balubhai Tanti, Dhiru Gajera, and Siddharth Parmar.

Another batch of Keshubhai loyalists, including Mayaben Kodnani, Bimal Shah, Bhavin Sheth, Pradipsinh Jadeja, Gordhan Zadaphiya, and Jyotsanaben Somani are expected to leave on Tuesday or Wednesday.

Parmar said these MLAs would try to seek audience with senior central party leaders like Atal Behari Vajpayee, Murli Manohar Joshi, Jaswant Singh, Sanjay Joshi, Pramod Mahajan and Arun Jaitley. ‘‘If invited, we are not averse to meeting even BJP president L K Advani during our stay in Delhi,’’ a rebel MLA said.

Notice for Khurana

NEW DELHI: BJP veteran Madan Lal Khurana faced the threat of expulsion from the party if his reply to the show-cause notice, which was served on him today, was not satisfactory on his attack on party president L K Advani. ‘‘The notice has been hand-delivered to Khurana by a BJP functionary giving him 10 days to give his explanation,’’ said BJP spokesperson Sushma Swaraj.

In case Khurana failed to come up with a suitable explanation, it would be deemed that he had nothing to say and would face threat of expulsion, Sushma told mediapersons.