No tickets for Amit Shah loyalists in Ahmedabad civic polls

Political circles are surprised that the state BJP has sidelined former minister Amit Shah's supporters in its selection of candidates for the upcoming civic polls in the city.

The party's final list of candidates for the polls scheduled for October 10 does not have the name of a single Shah loyalist. The former minister, a close aide of chief minister Narendra Modi, is currently in jail as an accused in the Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case.

Leaders and workers of the BJP have been discussing why Shah's supporters had been ignored and the most common view is that some top BJP leaders of the state were responsible for this. The party workers claim that revenue minister Anandiben Patel and Shah did not get on well even when Shah was a minister.    

With Shah out of the way following his arrest in the Sohrab case, the Anandi faction had come to dominate the party organization in the state. It was this faction that had the final say in the selection of BJP candidates for the polls in the city, the party workers said.  Things have come to such a pass that the Shah group did not dare to come out openly against the party even after the former minister's supporters were ignored for the polls in the city, the party workers said.

On Friday, hundreds of disgruntled BJP workers from Ghatlodia and adjacent areas had come to the party office in Khanpur and protested. However, they did not put forward anyone's name for candidature in the civic polls. Shah's supporters are also taking care not to issue any statement before the media.

"We are surprised that the party has ignored the supporters of Amit Shah who was one of the closest allies of chief minister Narendra Modi," said a BJP worker on the condition of anonymity. It remains to be seen whether Amit Shah loyalists abide by party discipline,  or come out openly against the party during the elections.