New Delhi, Nov 25: With Haren Pandya, detractor of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, opting out of the electoral fray and deciding to "campaign for the party as a disciplined soldier", BJP today heaved a sigh of relief and chose Bhavin Seth, a municipal councillor to contest the Ellisbridge seat. Party president Venkaiah Naidu told reporters here today that with Pandya opting out, everything has been smoothened and the party would launch its campaign under the leadership of Chief Minister Narender Modi.
Modi, by successfully stalling renomination of Pandya, has asserted his supreme position in the party for the coming assembly polls.
Naidu said "when we were in the process of taking a decision on the Ellisbridge assembly seat, Pandya phoned me and said he was opting out of the electoral fray. There was a situation when only one point of view was being expressed.But, Pandya by his gesture made the party proud. As disciplined soldier, he said he would campaign for the party and I compliment him for that." With this seat being given to Sheth, the party has finalised candidates for the 182 assembly seats and would be launching a high powered campaign from November 30 spearheaded by Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani, Naidu said.
Advani would be covering all the 25 districts in the state and the emphasis in the campaign would be on constituency level meeting rather than rallies, Naidu said. Bureau Report