Gujarat BJP MP accuses party MLA of trying to bring AAP leader into party

New Delhi: An internal rift happening in Gujarat BJP has come to the fore after party’s Bharuch Lok Sabha MP Mansukh Vasava accused BJP MLA for Nandod on Monday of supporting Aadmi Party leader Chaitar Vasava, The Indian Express reported.

The state working president of AAP led protest march earlier demanding to repair a 14-kilometre road stretch in Junaraj village of Narmada district.

Deshmukh responded to Mansukh Vasava’s allegations saying ‘I do not need to explain myself’.

Meanwhile, Chaitar, issued an ultimatum of 15 days for the administration to repair the road.

Responding to it, the MP from the area Mansukh Vasava said the AAP leader was playing ‘theatrics’.

Addressing a press conference on Monday, Mansukh Vasava accused fellow party leader and Nandod MLA Darshana Deshmukh of ‘siding with Chaitar in a desperate attempt to bring him into the BJP’, adding that she was ‘giving him lollipops to join the BJP’.

Chaitar in a video message denied the allegations calling them as ‘baseless’. Later at a press conference Deshmukh criticised the AAP for ‘misleading people’.

However, Deshmukh did not respond to Mansukh Vasava’s allegations instead said that ‘I do not need to explain myself’, adding that the BJP has “more proof” of AAP leaders’ misdealings.

Responding to the development, Chaitar reportedly said: ‘It is unbecoming of such a senior politician to make such baseless statements. Neither any BJP leader nor any elected representative of the BJP– and Darshanaben, who is a BJP MLA, have ever stood in my support. There are issues of public interest in the district and leaders meet for the coordination meetings to make representations. That does not mean that it can be called her political support for me.’

Meanwhile, BJP insiders are reported to be saying that Chaitar’s immense popularity as a young tribal leader in Junaraj has become a cause of concern for the BJP.

A senior BJP leader reportedly said that ‘Mansukhbhai has been regularly naming party colleagues like this in public and alleging that they are working against the party. Even if there is a difference of opinion, it goes against the policy and image of the party’.

It is reported that unrest within the BJP has also surfaced in Bharuch district, which is part of Mansukh’s Parliamentary constituency, where the BJP faced split during the recently concluded Dudh Dhara dairy elections.

Sitting BJP MLA Arunsinh Rana from Vagra taluka fielded contestants against the party candidates and two members of Rana’s panel won the polls.