BJP determined to defeat Vaghela in by-election

Syed Firdaus Ashraf in New Delhi

With just a month left for the by-election in Randhanpur in Gujarat, the Bharatiya Janata Party is pulling out all stops to defeat Chief Minister and BJP renegade Shankarsinh Vaghela, who will be a candidate in the poll. If Vaghela loses the election, his government will certainly collapse.

Both Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Lal Kishinchand Advani will address a rally in the constituency for the BJP candidate whose name has not been finalised yet.

Says Suresh Mehta, the former BJP chief minister whom Vaghela ousted last year, "Vaghela will meet his Waterloo in Randhanpur. The people of Gujarat know how the popular BJP government was dislodged by Vaghela and the central government. No matter who our candidate is, we will win this seat by a comfortable majority."

The BJP won last month's by-election in the Sarkheja assembly constituency and also won the municipal election in Mandvi. Moreover, BJP nominees were elected president and vice-president of the Randhanpur municipality last fortnight.

"These results are a sign that no way can Vaghela win from Randhanpur," says Mehta.

Randhanpur was won in the assembly election two years ago by an independent candidate, Lavingji Solanki, who vacated the seat in Vaghela's favour.

One factor that may help Vaghela is the Congress party's absence from the electoral fray. The Congress has not yet decided if it will contest the by-election.

In the 177-member Gujarat assembly, Vaghela has 43 legislators with him. His government is supported by the Congress which has 45 MLAs in the House.

Prabodh Raval, the Gujarat Congress Pradesh Committee president, says the party's central leadership had not yet decided if the Congress will contest the by-election.. "March 19 is the last day for filing the nomination papers and at the moment we are adopting a policy of wait and watch," he told Rediff On The NeT.

Vaghela, meanwhile, has launched an offensive against the BJP-Vishwa Hindu Parishad combine in Gujarat. To counter the VHP whom he blames for his loss in last year's general election, the chief minister has organised the Rashtriya Sant Samaj which met in Junagadh for the first time on Saturday. Some sants who were dissatisfied with the VHP have joined hands with Vaghela.

Says Mehta, "He is trying to denigrate the BJP-VHP in every manner. But people know that anything to do with Vaghela has no credibility and integrity."