Gujarat Elections 2017: Anandiben Patel writes to Amit Shah, says unwilling to contest
Former Gujarat chief minister Anandiben Patel has said she does not want to contest the upcoming state Assembly polls and that she has informed BJP president Amit Shah about her decision in a letter.
The letter was written on October 4, but released today.
Patel’s letter to Shah comes at a time when the BJP is in the process of forming three-member panels for each of the Assembly constituencies in the state to select the party candidates for the Assembly polls due later this year.
Some party workers have reportedly suggested that Patel (75), a sitting BJP MLA, be fielded from her current constituency, Ghatlodiya in Ahmedabad district. There has been a demand from a section of the BJP to declare the veteran politician as the party’s chief ministerial face in Gujarat, which is witnessing a quota agitation by the Patel community.
A tweet by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy, asking the party to make Patel the chief ministerial face in Gujarat had led to speculation about the former chief minister once again vying for the top post. Patel, however, cited her age as the reason for not contesting the polls. “When I had resigned as the chief minister of Gujarat, I had done it …read more