Guj: Mehta to resign from BJP before polls

Ahmedabad, Dec 1: Former Gujarat Chief Minister and senior BJP leader Suresh Mehta today said he will resign from the party before the Assembly elections and campaign to defeat Chief Minister Narendra Modi.

''As per my earlier announcement, I will resign from the party.

I would put in my papers before the elections, but I am yet to finalise the date,'' Mr Mehta told newspersons.

Mr Mehta has actively led the rebel movement against Mr Modi by participating in various public meetings held under the banner of Sardar Patel Utkarsh Samiti, an umbrella group of BJP dissidents.

He had also negotiated with Congress leaders for election tickets to the rebel BJP MLAs.

Mr Mehta also played a vital role in inviting Uma Bharti's Bhartiya Janshakti Party to Gujarat ahead of the elections to give the ruling BJP a competitor. Though Ms Bharti has backtracked and ordered her 53 nominees to withdraw from poll fray, the BJS candidates are in no mood to heed her instructions and have decided to contest the elections.

UNI