Blow to BJP in poll-bound Gujarat? Former MP, son quit party over ticket distribution

A senior BJP leader and his son had quit the party over ticket distribution on Tuesday.

Gandhinagar, Nov 22: As both the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress have started announcing their respective lists of candidates ahead of the Gujarat Assembly elections, dissent in both the parties are out in the open.

The elections in Gujarat are scheduled to take place on December 9 and 14. The counting and declaration of election results will be done on December 18.

In fact, on Tuesday, a senior BJP leader and his son left the party as they were upset over ticket distribution. Former Member of Parliament (MP) Kanjibhai Patel and his son Sunil Patel resigned from the party, stated reports.

According to news agency ANI, the father-son duo was miffed over ticket distribution.
Thus both the senior and junior Patels took the "unexpected step" on the last day of filing of nominations for the first phase of elections.

Now, Sunil has decided to contest elections as an independent candidate from Gandevi constituency.

Till now, the BJP has announced four lists of candidates. The last one was announced by the saffron party on Tuesday where the name of only one leader figured.

The BJP released its third list of candidates on Monday, completing all 89 nominations for the first phase, but did not give a ticket to Sunil.

So far, the BJP has declared a total of 135 candidates for the182-member Gujarat Assembly. The Congress, on its part, has declared the names of 117 candidates for the two-phase state elections.

Even the Congress is facing dissent over ticket distribution. The workers of the Congress and the Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) attacked each other after the grand old party declared its first list of candidates on Sunday.

President of the Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC) Bharatsinh Solanki recently stated that he was not contesting elections in the state amid reports of his differences with the party high command over ticket distribution.

OneIndia News