Gujarat BJP faces dissent over Lok Sabha ticket distribution

Ahmedabad: Discontentment among BJP workers refuses to die down in Gujarat over the selection of candidates for the Lok Sabha elections to be held on May 7, even after the central leadership changed two candidates after party workers raised concerns.

The fresh protest erupted on Tuesday, a day after the party released the names of the last six candidates, including for the Vadodara and Sabarkantha seats.

The party replaced two-term sitting MP Ranjan Bhatt with Hemang Joshi from Vadodara, while Shobhna Baraiya will contest in place of Bhikaji Thakor.

However, the party workers are angry over the leaders preferring the new entrants over the long-time workers.

They are protesting against Shobhna's selection for being an "import" from Congress. They claim that she has not worked for the party since she joined it recently.

Shobhna is a primary school teacher and the wife of former Congress Prantij MLA Mahendrasinh Baraiya. Mahendrasinh joined the BJP during the 2022 Assembly poll.

"Shobhnaben is not even a primary member of the party, and she resigned as a teacher recently. We are angry that the party didn't consider any worker who has been associated with it for 25–30 years. Bhijaji Thakor was a much better choice," a BJP leader in Sabarkantha told DH, requesting not to be quoted.

In his interviews with local TV channels, Thakor was heard confirming that there was immense resentment among the workers but maintained that he would support the party's decision. Earlier, Thakor was replaced following protests by local party workers over his caste credentials.

Similarly, Hemang Joshi's nomination has not gone down well with the workers. The party had to suspend its national vice president of the women's wing, Jyoti Pandya, who openly voiced dissent against the decision.

Party sources say that there is anger among the workers even over the candidature of Union health minister Mansukh Mandaviya for the Porbandar seat. The angry workers wanted a local candidate, while Mandaviya is originally from Bhavnagar. The Union minister is contesting his first-ever Lok Sabha polls.

In Surendranagar, too, workers are resentful, party sources said.

The BJP aims to achieve a hattrick of winning all 26 LS seats in the state. In the 2014 and 2019 elections, the party snatched all 26 seats. To ensure victory, the ruling party has inducted four sitting MLAs from the Opposition Congress and one from the Aam Aadmi Party in the past couple of months. The list includes Arjun Modhwadia and CJ Chavda, who were the senior-most leaders in the Congress.

Due to defections by Opposition leaders, six assembly constituencies fell vacant. Bypolls for these seats are slated to be held together with the Lok Sabha on May 7.

The BJP's list of five candidates includes four ex-Congress legislators and one independent candidate who resigned and joined the saffron party. This has also added fuel to the fire among party workers who are uncomfortable with the mass induction of Opposition leaders into the party.