Madhubhai Shrivastav, a six-time MLA who most recently won on the BJP ticket from Gujarat’s Waghodia segment, has decided to run as an Independent after the ruling party decided not to renominate him. He has expressed regret over joining the party 25 years ago “at Narendra Modi and Amit Shah’s insistence.”
Bhupendra Patel, the chief minister, “cannot do anything” about the ticket since “everything is decided by the highest leadership in Delhi,” according to Mr. Shrivastav, a local strongman politician known as a “bahubali” who was once implicated in a case involving the 2002 Gujarat riots.
When asked why he hadn’t spoken to Mr. Patel, he said that he hadn’t. I can reach Mr. Shah and Prime Minister Modi directly. He said, “But he hasn’t talked to them either following the ticket denial.”
According to sources, Mr. Shrivastav was one of six rebels who declined to visit state minister Harsh Sanghavi over the previous four days despite his efforts to reconcile them.
After winning as an Independent in 1995, Mr. Shrivastav joined the BJP. He and his family have also supported the Janata Dal, the Congress, and other organisations.
“I didn’t travel to the BJP alone. In 1995, when I won with a huge margin, Narandra Modi and Amit Shah came to ask me to join the BJP. That’s the only reason I joined the party, he asserted in a phone interview with NDTV. Prior to becoming chief minister a few years later, PM Modi was a BJP official in the state at the time. Mr. Shah, who is currently the Union’s home minister, was a state-level official back then.
The Vadodara district BJP chairman, Ashwin Patel, who was given the ticket in his place, according to Mr. Shrivastav, “had never won even a local election.” Obviously, I’m really outraged and furious with the BJP. I’ve resigned from all of my posts,” he continued.
The BJP has not yet responded to the remarks. Out of the 182 seats, it had dismissed 38 existing MLAs from its first list of 160 candidates, including five ministers and the assembly speaker.
While the party has had some internal conflict in Gujarat, which has served as its bastion for 27 years running, it faced a more significant internal danger in Himachal Pradesh, where it had rebels on 21 of the state’s 68 seats.
Gujarat will hold elections on December 1 and 5, with results expected on December 8, while Himachal voted on November 12.
