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Rediff.com  » News » Mehta, Zadafia opt out of Gujarat polls

Mehta, Zadafia opt out of Gujarat polls

Source: PTI
October 29, 2007 21:12 IST
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Most Bharatiya Janata Party leaders rebelling against Chief Minister Narendra Modi in Gujarat will fight elections on Congress tickets. However, some senior leaders like Suresh Mehta and Gordhan Zadafia will keep away from the electoral fray.

"I and former chief minister Mehta will not contest the elections but will take active part in the campaign to defeat the dictatorial government of Chief Minister Narendra Modi," said Zadafia.

"BJP MLAs who wish to shift sides will fight under the Congress banner," he said.

"Some of our leaders and MLAs have decided to fight under Uma Bharti's party -- Bharatiya Jan Shakti," Zadafia added.

However, he did not disclose the number of seats BJP rebels have demanded from the Congress.

"Many MLAs and prominent BJP leaders, who want to switch sides and fight elections, have demanded tickets," Zadafia said.

"Winnability of the candidate will be the chief criterion for giving tickets. Congress has not shown any rigidity about the number of tickets to be given to us," Zadafia claimed.

"Negotiations are going on between the three-member committee of the Congress comprising Vylar Ravi, Prithviraj Chavan and B K Hariprasad. The local leaders are not part of the negotiations," he added.

"We are sure that the Congress will give us enough seats. There was no movement against the Modi government until our farmers' meeting. By organising 87 such meets, we were successful in creating awareness against Modi government's anti-farmer and anti-people policies," Zadafia said
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