Gujarat: Ex chief minister Keshubhai Patel resigns from BJP

Ahmedabad, Aug 4: Dissident

leader

has finally resigned from the party. The move was expected given the intense speculation about him launching a party.

The 84-year-old told newspersons today that he will make an announcement in this regard tomorrow. He has been a long time critic of Narendra Modi who succeeded him as Gujarat chief minister.

Keshubhai first became the state's CM in Mar 1995 but had to relinquish the post eight months later. In Mar 1998, he again took over the reins of the state and continued till Oct 2001.

When the party lost in two bypolls, Modi was chosen as Keshubhai's replacement. Ever since then, the latter has been unhappy. In the 2007 Assembly elections, he did not even campaign for the BJP. Neither did Keshubhai exercise his franchise that time.

Of late, there have been reports of the Congress which is the main opposition party in Gujarat instigating him to revolt. Since Keshubhai said a few days ago that his new party's ideology will be "Hindutva in its broad and liberal sense", it is not clear whether Congress leaders will ally with him against the CM.

OneIndia News