Miffed at withdrawal of candidature, GPP man returns to BJP

Ahmedabad, Dec 12:

Parivartan Party's (

) Pravin Patel has joined the

and announced his support for Chief Minister Narendra Modi. He joined the BJP in the presence of city mayor Asit Vora and Gujarat State Transport Development Corporation chairman Kamlesh Patel on Monday.

Patel said he decided to quit the GPP, which was floated by former BJP leader Keshubhai Patel, the state's first BJP chief minister, as a mark of protest against the withdrawal of his candidature from Maninagar constituency. Patel was asked to withdraw his candidature on Dec 3 in favour of Congress candidate Shweta Bhatt, wife of suspended IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt.

Maninagar, which will go to the polls on Dec 17, is one of the high-profile constituencies for it is represented by Modi himself. Patel said he was asked by the GPP to withdraw himself from the fray to help Bhatt.

A miffed Patel said he did not join the GPP to support the Congress and hence found it a better reason to join the BJP and support Narendra Modi. He said his conscience did not permit him to work for the Congress candidate.

The man, who had once worked for Modi before joining Keshubhai's party, said it was like 'returning home' for him. He, however, said he had no complaints against the GPP chief and said he had full respect for him.

GPP sources said the decision to withdraw its candidate from Maninagar was a reciprocating gesture to the Congress, which did not field candidate from Visavadar against the GPP chief. The Congress has also reportedly fielded a weak candidate from Gondal from where GPP's Gordhan Zadaphia is contesting.

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