BJP woos Congress, MJP factions to topple Vaghela
The Bharatiya Janata Party has initiated moves to topple the nine-month-old Shankarsinh Vaghela government in Gujarat, party sources said.
Towards this end, senior BJP leaders are in constant touch with the erstwhile Janata Dal (Gujarat) group in the Congress. The JD-G group's leaders decided they should resign en bloc after being sidelined by the Congress in the state organisational polls.
On the other hand, BJP national vice-president and former chief minister Keshubhai Patel,
who was at loggerheads with former state president Kashiram
Rana, has patched up with him. Both leaders had hectic discussions in Ahmedabad on Wednesday, party sources said, adding that they had evolved a strategy
to topple the Vaghela government.
Rana, sources claimed, is in touch with disgruntled legislators and even some of Vaghela's ministers. He was once considered close to Vaghela.
Vaghela's Mahagujarat Janata Party has 45 legislators in the 182-member Gujarat assembly. It has the support of the 45-member Congress
legislature party. The BJP, which is the single largest party, has 77 members. The House has 15 independents. The BJP requires 15 members to topple the Vaghela
government.
Keshubhai Patel said last week that the BJP was not averse to taking back MJP legislators who were elected on the BJP ticket. Barring Vaghela, he said the re-entry of all other MJP members could be considered.
The BJP leadership is also in contact with leaders of the Janata Dal (Gujarat) faction of the Congress. This group has 28 legislators. The BJP is not averse to supporting the JD-G legislators in forming a government.
UNI
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