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Keshubhai Patel tells NRI supporters to hold back cheques

A silent but serious caste war is brewing in the ranks of the Bharatiya Janata Party's Gujarat unit between the Patels and members of other communities.

At the centre of the controversy is former chief minister Keshubhai Patel, who is very keen that he becomes CM again if the BJP wins the assembly election in Gujarat. Opposing him are senior party leaders like former chief minister Suresh Mehta and former BJP MP from Surat Kashiram Rana, who do not want Patel as CM again.

Patel, however, is believed to have promised his complete support to the party only if he is made chief minister again.

Patel has a secret weapon in his quiver. He is believed to have the support of wealthy NRIs from the Patel community in the United States and Europe, his base abroad numbering about 500,000 BJP sympathisers.

Sources claim the Patel lobby supporting the former chief minister, particularly in Saurashtra, is now asking NRIs in the US to hold back their plans to fund the BJP in Gujarat till more members of the Patel community are given a chance to contest the assembly election.

The Patel lobby is said to hold the state BJP to ransom by stating that NRI contributions to the party would dry up if Patel's supporters are not provided sufficient representation during the assembly election.

The Patel lobby has played a key role in the politics of Gujarat for many years, given that it is the single most powerful community in the state.

It appears as if none of the senior BJP leaders at the central level wants to interfere in the affairs of the Gujarat unit. Even Atal Bihari Vajpayee sounded evasive when he told reporters last month in Rajkot that the root of all problems in Gujarat politics lay in the battle for the chief ministership among senior BJP leaders in the state.

Meanwhile, adding to the BJP's woes, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh in the Saurashtra region has also commenced taking a keen interest in the selection of candidates for the assembly poll. Party insiders say a senior RSS leader in Saurashtra has been seeking the advice of RSS strongman Narendra Modi to field candidates who have the backing of the Sangh Parivar in the region.

The state BJP brass is not very happy with having to provide a fair hearing to leaders of the RSS and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad who have been asserting that the party can win both the assembly and Lok Sabha elections only with its support. Modi is said to be in touch with Patel to finalise the probable candidates for the assembly seats in the Saurashtra region. Patel is keen on keeping the RSS happy by promising to support its candidates in the assembly poll.

Thus, it appears that even before it has won the assembly poll, the battle for the chief ministership is already raging in the Gujarat BJP!

EARLIER REPORT:
BJP heading for comfortable majority in Gujarat assembly poll: CMS

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