The Hindu : 'Modi opposed renomination of Haren Pandya'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Nov 21, 2002

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'Modi opposed renomination of Haren Pandya'

By Manas Dasgupta

GANDHINAGAR NOV. 20. The BJP today released 11 more names in addition to the list of 144 candidates finalised yesterday but despite the earlier assurance of completing the State party's recommendations for all the 182 seats, no decision had been taken on 27 constituencies including Godhra and Ellisbridge.

The former Chief Minister, Keshubhai Patel, managed to thwart the attempts of the Modi camp to make his son to contest from Visavadar in Junagadh district, which he himself represented in the dissolved Assembly till he was elected to the Rajya Sabha.

The Chief Minister, Narendra Modi's supporters apparently wanted to put Mr. Patel in a fix by giving the ticket to his son and force him to campaign for the party, at least in the Saurashtra region, which he was resisting on health grounds.

The party finally was forced to allocate the seat to a worker, Kanshubhai Valala, whose name was not known to any of the leaders in the State headquarters. Barring Visavadar, in most of the other 10 seats the party has re-nominated either the sitting members of the dissolved Assembly or those who had contested the elections unsuccessfully last time.

Party sources admitted that despite the day-long confabulations by the State election committee at Mr. Modi's residence, no decision could be taken on the remaining seats. Even the fate of two close confidants of Mr. Modi — the Finance Minister, Nitin Patel, and the Urban Development Minister, I. K. Jadeja, — continued to hang in the balance apparently because of the resistance from the Patel camp. Mr. Patel, it is learnt, has taken the stand that the Modi supporters could be re-nominated only if Haren Pandya's name was cleared which was not acceptable to the Chief Minister.

Mr Modi, the party sources said, was opposed to Mr. Pandya's re-nomination under any circumstances.

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