In a major setback to the Bhartiya Janta Party, former Gujarat minister Jaynarayan Vyas has resigned from the party ahead of state assembly polls. Talking about his resignation Vyas said, “It is true that I resigned. For some time, especially in the Patan district, people sitting in the organization are desirous of fighting elections and indulging in factionalism. They are targeting leaders one by one in order to remove and replace them.”
He said that he is not willing to fight the upcoming Gujarat elections as an independent. “I will fight the election from Sidhpur but don't want to fight it as an independent candidate. If there's no option left then I might fight as an independent candidate otherwise I'll form an alliance with any party I like,” ANI quoted him as saying.
Reacting to his resignation state BJP President CR Patil said, “He was with BJP for 32 years, and in the last 10 years, he lost elections twice and still BJP gave him the ticket. BJP decided not to give tickets to candidates above the age of 75. It might be a reason behind his resignation.”
Vyas was elected to Gujarat Legislative Assembly in 2007 and became Cabinet Minister in the Narendra Modi-led state government. He served as a minister in the Gujarat government from 2007 to 2012.
Vyas met Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot on Saturday which created a buzz in political arenas. Although, he said that he visited the CM to discuss their success with the Narmada canal water and Covid-19 management that had won praise from the World Health Organisation (WHO).
The Election Commission of India announced the polling dates for Gujarat on Thursday. The Gujarat Assembly Election will be held in two phases on December 1 and December 5 and the result will be declared on December 8.