Guj BJP Rift: More anti Modi posters, Keshubhai skips meet

The second day of the BJP Gujarat state executive meet currently underway in Rajkot has seen more pro-Joshi posters mysteriously appear around the meet venue, even as former Chief Minister Keshubhai Patel chose to skip the event. The posters, which were immediately pulled down by party workers, expressed support for Sanjay Joshi who had resigned from the party on Friday, citing differences with Narendra Modi. Joshi who was a long standing critic of Modi, had earlier been asked to resign from the national executive so that the Gujarat Chief Minister would attend the BJP executive meet in Mumbai. In addition to the posters, a quarter page advertisement was taken out in a prominent state newspaper called Sandesh, giving Joshi advice on how to deal with the ‘injustice’ that had been meted out to him. [caption id=“attachment_338173” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Sanjay Joshi resigned from the party on Friday: PTI”] [/caption] The text in the ad, was signed by an unknown organization, and told Joshi that he had two choices going forward given the injustice he had been served. He could either quit politics and become an ascetic, or fight back. Meanwhile in a further indication that all is not well within the BJP, former Gujarat Chief Minister Kerhubhai Patel chose to skip the meet, which was intended to finalize party strategy ahead of the state assembly polls. Patel has also long been a vocal critic of the current Chief Minister. However Modi is clearly taking the bull by the horns. The very fact that he has chosen to hold the party meet in Rajkot is itself a telling indication, as Rajkot is Patel’s constituency. Modi has also refused to make any comment about Joshi, Patel or the perceived rifts within the party. The BJP meanwhile has refused to comment on the issue, saying that everything was fine within the party and that they were fully focused on the 2014 polls.