By IANS
New Delhi : Rebels of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Gujarat said Thursday they would show their strength in the assembly polls to be held in December.
Meeting at former chief minister and Rajya Sabha MP Keshubhai Patel’s residence here, the dissident leaders discussed their strategy a day after the Election Commission announced dates for assembly polls.
Former chief minister Suresh Mehta, former state home minister Gordhan Zadaphia and Vallabhbhai Kathiria, MP from Rajkot, attended the meeting that lasted for more than three hours.
Patel has emerged as the rallying point for a section of the party legislators and functionaries who are unhappy with Chief Minister Narendra Modi’s “autocratic” style of functioning.
“It is a fight between autocracy and democracy. Democracy needs to be established in the state and the voice of the people needs to be heard,” Zadaphia told reporters after the meeting.
“We will show our strength during these elections.”
However, even as the countdown was on for the much-awaited polls, the rebel camp remained undecided whether to launch a new party or to join the opposition Congress.
Zadaphia admitted as much. However, he said it would be better if the contest in Gujarat remained a bipolar one, indicating support to the Congress.
Two BJP legislators, Siddharth Parmar and Ramilaben Desai, have resigned in the last three days.
They had earlier been suspended from the party for making allegations against the chief minister in public.