How a family feud is ruining BJP’s ticket distribution strategy in Gujarat

Unhappy over the BJP nominating his daughter-in-law instead of his wife from the Kaalol Assembly seat in Gujarat, party MP Prabhatsinh Chauhan has warned that he would not guarantee a win for the party, if the candidate is not replaced with someone of his choice.

The BJP on Friday released its fifth list of 13 candidates for the second phase of Assembly polls in Gujarat.  In the list, the ruling party dropped sitting MLA Arvindsinh Chauhan and instead fielded Prabhatsinh Chauhan’s daughter-in-law Suman Chauhan from the Kaalol seat in Panchmahal district.

Enraged over the announcement, Prabhatsinh Chauhan dashed off a letter to BJP chief Amit Shah on Friday, urging him to replace Suman Chauhan with a “local candidate”.

Although, in the letter he did not clearly demand that his wife Rangeshwari be given the party ticket, recently he had told reporters that she was the best candidate for the Kaalol seat.

While Rangeshwari is the president of Ghoghamba taluka panchayat of Panchamahal district, Suman Chauhan is a member of Panchmahal district panchayat.

In the letter, the parliamentarian also alleged that his son Pravinsinh is a “bootlegger” and that he and his wife had even gone to jail.

“My son Pravin is a bootlegger and several cases are still pending against him. Both he and his wife Suman even went to jail in the past. This will dent the BJP’s prospects of winning the seat. Further, Suman belongs to Godhra and people of Kaalol will not accept her,” Chauhan said in the letter.

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“Though I am senior, having spent 45 years in public life, the party has not taken my opinion while selecting the candidates. I was also not taken into confidence while selecting the candidate for Kaalol. Thus, I urge you to consider changing the current candidate with a local one of my choice,” he added.

Prabhatsinh Chauhan, a prominent Rajput face in the region, who had joined the BJP in 1992, claimed that though he had single-handedly established the BJP’s dominance in that district over the years, he has been ignored by the party and not given any post in the organisation.

Chauhan stressed that the BJP would not get even a single vote from tribals. While his wife Rangeshwari is a tribal, Suman Chauhan is a Rajput.

“The BJP will not get a single vote, out of the 1.10 lakh votes of tribals due to this ongoing controversy. There are huge chances that we will lose Kaalol. Thus, I want to inform you that I will not take any responsibility of ensuring the party’s victory on any of the seven seats under my constituency including Kaalol,” Chauhan said in the letter.

Three days ago, Chauhan said that he had sought ticket for his wife on the ground that she had done “very good work” as Ghoghamba taluka panchayat president.

“Just go to Ghoghamba to see what kind of work she has done. She has completely uprooted corruption. Rangeshwari is the best candidate and that is why I have appealed to the party leaders to select her for Kaalol seat,” Chauhan told reporters.

Earlier on Friday, when Rangeshwari came to know that she has been ignored in ticket allocation, she targeted her husband in a fiery Facebook post, in which she even dared him to enter Kaalol for poll campaign.

However, she deleted the post today.

“I had posted that comment out of anger and disappointment. That was not against the BJP, it was against the Member of Parliament. But now, I have entered into a compromise with him over the issue,” Rangeshwari told reporters.