The fight between Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi and his senior Bharatiya Janata Party colleague, Sanjay Joshi, took another turn when posters in support of the latter were put up in some areas of Ahmedabad, Delhi and Mumbai.
Senior party leaders said none in the party had authorised the act but it is believed the detractors of Modi in the Gujarat party were responsible. The unnamed posters were later removed by the pro-Modi group.
The hoardings and posters that were put up in Ahmedabad, near the party headquarters in Delhi, Mumbai and outside homes of several leaders said, “Chote mann se koi bada nahi hota (no one becomes big with a small mind) and, “Kaho dil se, Sanjay Joshi phir se (Say it with your heart, Sanjay Joshi once again).”
The long dispute between Modi and Joshi yet again hogged the limelight during the recent national executive meeting of the BJP in Mumbai. The Gujarat CM refused to attend and threatened to resign from the body if Joshi was not removed from it. BJP president Nitin Gadkari had to accept the resignation of Joshi, which annoyed several senior leaders.
“These were not authorised banners and posters of the party, so I do not have anything to say on it,” said Ravi Shankar Prasad, party spokesman.
Some veteran figures in the Gujarat party such as former chief ministers Keshubhai Patel and Suresh Mehta, and former minister Gordhan Zadafia, have come together and are holding public functions to gather support against Modi.
“We are not responsible for putting up these posters. Someone from the BJP must have done it. If senior leaders of BJP are unable to protect the honour of Sanjay Joshi, then BJP workers in Gujarat will do it. Sanjay Joshi is very popular in the state and the majority of BJP workers are with him,” said Zadafia, who had left the BJP to form a MahaGujarat Janata Party because of differences with Modi.
