A couple of days ago, the BJP's rank and file in Gujarat seemed to be enjoying the dissidence in the opposition Congress as Indraneel Rajyaguru, who took on Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, resigned from the party and Congress workers ransacked the party's state headquarters in Ahmedabad over dissatisfaction in appointments of city and district party presidents.
But, now, it's the turn of the BJP to tackle internal problems. Late on Wednesday night, three MLAs—Yogesh Patel, Madhu Shrivastav and Ketan Inamdar—from Vadodara district huddled together at the Vadodara Circuit House to voice their dissatisfaction over the state of affairs in the capital Gandhinagar.
While Patel and Shrivastav are seasoned politicians, Inamdar got elected for the second time in the 2017 Assembly election.
Shrivastav, representing Waghodia, had a grievance that government officials were being high-handed and did not listen to MLAs.
The trio accused the government officials of working as per their whims and fancies.
They claimed that even on Tuesdays (the day fixed for MLAs to meet ministers), the ministers have not met them.
Shrivastav, who has a reputation of being outspoken, even said the MLAs would not wait in a queue to meet the chief minister if the officials did not allow them.
The trio did not spell it out in as many words but gave a clear indication that the government had no control over the bureaucracy.
Senior minister Bhupendrasinh Chudasama, who has been deputed by the party to resolve the issue, said he and state party president Jitubhai Vaghani would speak to the three MLAs and sort out the issue.
The MLAs said that many of their colleagues were also dissatisfied and that they would speak up.
Shrivastav, Patel and Inamdar spoke a day after Rupani left on a six-day official foreign visit.
This is not for the first time that the BJP has faced internal issues. Soon after the Assembly election win, when the cabinet was formed, Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel was not given the crucial finance portfolio. Patel, who had been holding the portfolio earlier, sulked and did not attend office until BJP national president Amit Shah intervened and Patel was promised that he would be given the finance portfolio.
MLAs of Vadodara are also dissatisfied as they have not been given charge of any ministry, despite a good performance in the area.
A senior BJP leader from Vadodara, requesting anonymity, said the MLAs' 'complaints' were an attempt at pressure tactics as the BJP was able to secure only 99 out of 182 seats in the last Assembly election. The leader said the BJP cannot take the MLAs for granted, adding that the complaints would not have made a difference if the party's numbers in the Assembly were greater.
State BJP spokesperson Bharat Pandya told THE WEEK that he had a word with Shrivastav and Inamdar and, both of them have categorically said that they do not have any problem with the government or the party. “They are facing problem with the officials,” Pandya explained.
Pandya said that the MLAs concerned have been summoned by the state party leadership to look into their issues and a solution would be arrived at soon.
