As Gujarat votes today, the opposition within BJP’s biggest challenge

Amid scorching heat and with a seat already decided, the more than 4.9 crore voters of Gujarat will decide the fate of 266 candidates for the remaining 25 parliamentary and five Assembly constituencies on Tuesday.  Among those who will vote are Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who will exercise their in the Gandhinagar Lok Sabha constituency.

In an election devoid of any wave, the spotlight shifted from Surat — where the Election Commission (EC) rejected the nomination of Congress candidate Nilesh Kumbhani after his proposers alleged their signatures were forged and the contest closed with the rest of the candidates opting out — to Rajkot.

Kshatriyas who comprise nearly 6.5% of Gujarat’s population took offence to a comment about the community that BJP candidate and Union Minister Parshottam Rupala made on March 22 and launched protests throughout the state, disrupting BJP rallies and threatened to boycott the BJP.

As the protests snowballed, veteran leaders such as former Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Vala, former Union Minister Vallabh Kathiriya, and former Chief Minister Vijay Rupani stepped in to campaign for Rupala, a Kadva Patidar facing his rival and Congress candidate Paresh Dhanani, a Leuva Patidar, 22 years after the latter defeated him in the Assembly elections in their home turf of Amreli. Senior BJP leaders feel if the community takes its anger to the booth, the party may “lose its lead in at least five seats”.

This was also the first time that the BJP — which returned to power in the state in December 2022 on the back of a record-breaking performance — replaced its candidates in Vadodara and Sabarkantha, following internal protests. Sitting MP Ranjan Bhatt was replaced in Vadodara