Gujarat: Shunned, unhappy BJP biggies seek PM Narendra Modi support

Gujarat BJP's parliamentary board, by Monday evening, completed reviewing the first 22 seats to select suitable candidates. The review of the remaining 4 seats will take place on on Tuesday.

However, those who failed to convince the state leadership for tickets are now preparing to catch the flights to New Delhi and meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi, directly for a representation.

Among those who failed to convince the state leaders are former ministers Shankar Chaudhary, Dilip Sanghani, Prabhatsinh Chauhan, and Naran Patel. The state parliamentary board, however, is reluctant to include them in the list of final probables for different seats of Lok Sabha, a senior leader of the party said on condition of anonymity. "It's obvious that these leaders have an opportunity to survive in politics by contesting in the Lok Sabha polls. They may miss the bus for a long time and, therefore, seeking shelter in Delhi. Probably, in a day or two, they will visit the central leaders for their lobbying. Else, they may meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi," the leader said.

"They will make all the possible efforts, and, if they succeed to convince the central leadership, they can get the ticket too. However, the chances are very less, unless the case is exceptional. Many of these have either lost the last polls they contested or else their chances for a ticket are very less," the leader added. Meanwhile, a buzz also sparked off that Shankar Chaudhary himself withdrew the name from the race despite having a strong claim for Banaskantha seat. When DNA asked Chaudhary about the buzz and his willingness to contest the polls, he said, "I have never proposed my name aspiring ticket and the issue ends there only."

A leader in the parliamentary board, however, told a different story.

He said on condition of anonymity, "Chaudhary has great political ambitions, and would never give up. He tried to convince other senior leaders like Anandiben Patel so that his name is proposed directly before the PM."