BJP workers furious over choice of candidates for Surat civic polls

Only half of the candidates for the upcoming civic polls in Surat have been declared by the BJP, but the names have already angered party workers.

BJP workers in four wards of the city on Tuesday protested against the candidates selected by the party for the elections. Sensing that the situation may get out of hand, a meeting with Surat leaders has been organized by the state leadership on Wednesday at Gandhinagar.

The candidates selected by the BJP for the civic polls have led to dissatisfaction among party workers so much so that they even chanted slogans against the same. Party workers from ward no. 3, 26, 34 and 35 were the ones protesting against the selected candidates.

BJP workers in ward no. 3 staged a protest in-front of the ward office in the morning and demanded that a new candidate be declared for the ward. They also submitted a memorandum to city leaders in the afternoon. In ward no. 26, BJP workers locked the ward office to protest against the candidate selected by the party.

BJP has named Rashida Banu, as their candidate for the ward. The party claimed that the ward has considerable number of Muslims and Rashida's name was announced to tap these votes.
Workers, meanwhile, claimed that the names were declared without consulting them. In ward no. 35 the workers shouted anti-party slogans and alleged that the ticket was given to a person who had recently come from the Congress to join the BJP.

Ward no 34 may prove to be the most difficult as several party workers have threatened to join another party (preferably Congress), before election.

This is because the candidate for the ward Bharat Patil belongs from another ward. Surprised at the protest put forth by the party workers, the state BJP unit called an emergency meeting in Gandhinagar on Wednesday.