Former Gujarat CM Keshubhai Patel and a rival of Narendra Modi has quit Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) today and is expected to announce the formation of a new party.
Announcing his decision at a press conference in Gandhinagar, Patel said everyone is unhappy with the way the BJP was functioning in Gujarat. “People are unhappy with the government of Narendra Modi. No one listens to the common people, there is no sympathy for them.”
Patel and former union minister Kanshiram Rana sent in their resignation letters to the party high command. Earlier, Patel held a meeting with Rana and another former Gujarat chief minister, Suresh Mehta, at his residence.
“Kanshiram Rana and I, who have served the party for the last 60 years, are very sad to send our resignations, from the party that we have nurtured here, to party president Nitin Gadkari. We are not switching the party but we are going to form the real BJP,” Keshubhai said.
“BJP has not remained the real BJP which we had formed by working for the last 50 years. This party has become a one- man party and gone far away from its principals,” Keshubhai said, targeting Modi.
“I will tomorrow announce the formation of our new party,” he added.
“The present BJP has gone miles away from democracy and has become insensitive towards the people,” Keshubhai said.
Patel, who has a large following in the Saurashtra region of the state, is expected to announce a new party Sunday.
Patel has been increasingly critical of Narendra Modi of late.