AHMEDABAD: For the first time in 22 years, the BJP in Gujarat is facing serious internal resistance over five of the 26 Lok Sabha seats in the run-up to the May 7 polls. What initially started as dissent in one of the constituencies has now spread to about half a dozen others, including Sabarkantha, Rajkot, Vadodara, and Valsad districts, posing a challenge for the party.To make matters worse, circulating on social media is a letter to the BJP state president urging a change in the party’s candidate for the Junagadh constituency. In the viral letter addressed to state BJP president CR Patil, a Jan Sangh worker has highlighted various concerns about BJP candidate Rajesh Chudasama.“He has not done a single worth mentioning developmental work in Junagadh, nor has he taken any interest in conveying the central and state government schemes to the beneficiaries,” reads the letter. In the wake of the resistance from local leaders, the party candidate in Vadodara, Ranjan Bhatt, was replaced. However, there is growing demand to replace the new candidate, Dr Hemang Joshi.Sources indicate that several BJP workers question Joshi’s roots, claiming that he was in the state for education and that his involvement with the party was only for three years. Expressing dissent, a BJP worker criticised Joshi on social media. During a live stream featuring state BJP president CR Patil, the worker commented, “It is an insult to Vadodara’s women’s power; first, they were given the ticket and then withdrawn. What has he contributed to the party?”
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