Naina Patel in Gandhinagar/Rediff
Ahmedabad, Aug 2: Around 20 senior leaders of the Gujarat Bharatiya Janata Party gathered in Gandhinagar on Thursday to openly form a strategy to combat Chief Minister Narendra Modi.
Former Union minister Kashiram Rana, Somabhai Patel, Vallabhbhai Kathiria and Suresh Mehta are part of the "revolting" group.
The group also includes recently suspended leaders like Dhirubhai Gajera and former home minister Gordhan Jhadaphia.
The political gathering, the first of its kind since 2005, is currently on in Sanghvi farms near Gandhinagar.
The purpose of the meeting is to send a message to Modi and the leaders who are protecting him in New Delhi, said a revolting leader.
Since sometime Modi has been facing the displeasure of some party leaders due to his style of functioning, for ignoring the elected representatives and curbing their democratic powers and making IAS officers more powerful.
The rebel leaders since long have repeatedly said that in Gujarat under the leadership of Modi, the bureaucracy has been getting more corrupt and the elected representatives of people weaker and weaker.
The rebels allege that Modi has weakened the political institute and is behaving in an autocratic fashion.
It is significant to note that as the election in Gujarat is getting closer, the political temperature is getting hotter.
The heat is felt by Modi because the highly powerful section of Patels is turning against him and his style of functioning.
Longtime rebel Nalin Bhatt was on Thursday attacked by BJP workers and Bhatt has alleged that it was done to threaten him to stop his campaign against Modi.
Sharad Pawar, union agriculture minister and supremo of Nationalist Congress Party, clarified emphatically on Thursday in Baroda that his party will have a harmonious alliance with Congress. Pawar also strongly refuted rumours about any truck with Modi or the BJP in Gujarat.
NCP got around 3 per cent votes in elections of 2002 in Gujarat. NCP and Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party are trying hard to put up an impressive show in Gujarat.
Modi is facing tough challenges within and outside his party.