With Gujarat Assembly elections getting nearer, the internal problems and infighting within major political parties are coming to the fore, thus harming party prospects.
The issue of rebels going against the party directives especially after the candidate lists are out is increasing by each passing day for both the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
For the BJP a major problem has arisen in Surat, a constituency the party already is on shaky grounds. At least three BJP leaders from Surat BJP have filed nominations as independent candidates after being denied a ticket by the party.
One of the rebel leaders, former municipal councillor Bhimji Patel alleges that the BJP has sold the ticket to an incompetent candidate for crores of rupees due to which Bhimji filed his nomination as an independent candidate from Karanj and another BJP rebel Ajay Choudhary, who hails from Bihar filed his nomination from Choryasi.
Another leader Kunwarji Halpati, chairman of Halpati Gram Gruh Nirman Board, has resigned from the BJP and filed his nomination as an Independent from two seats of Mandvi and Mangrol respectively.
Halpati previously sought a BJP ticket to contest from Mandvi but the party nominated Praveen Chaudhary from the constituency as he is from Vasava community.
Halpati accused the BJP of giving the ticket to a candidate to appease a particular community meanwhile it accuses Congress of playing appeasement politics. He further said, that there are more than 10 lakh voters of Halpati community but the party has totally ignored their wishes.
Things are not going well for the Congress party as well, as disgruntled party workers continued their protests against the party in Ahmedabad over the distribution of Urban seats for the upcoming elections and making their cases against their decisions in front the high command in Delhi as well.
A delegation of Congress leaders made a presentation before the high command in Delhi showing their unease over candidates like Sabir Kablivala, who lost the 2012 elections from Jamalpur Khadia constituency and even after dismal results has been accommodated by the party.
According to these leaders, the locals are also against Kablivala’s candidature.
There is also dissent in local Congress members against the candidate nominated from Bapunagar seat, Himmatsinh Patel who is a former leader of Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC), has lost in two Assembly elections and a Parliamentary election.
Though there was a clear message from the high command that candidates, who lost more than twice won’t be preferred for a ticket but Himmatsinh was still accommodated without any concrete reason.
The rebels are protesting in their own ways, with many now choosing to contest elections as Independent candidates in the Gujarat Assembly elections.