Is there a larger political message buried in the churnings within a farmers’ cooperative in Gujarat?

The defeat of an Amit Shah-backed candidate in the election to the post of the farmer-owned fertiliser cooperative’s director in Gujarat is being seen as the latest stirring of discontent within the tightly controlled BJP unit in the state.

Bipin Patel, a close aide of Union home minister Shah who was nominated by Gujarat BJP chief C.R. Paatil, lost the election at the IFFCO (Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative) to Jayesh Radadiya, a former BJP minister in the state and the sitting MLA of Jetpur.

Radadiya, who went against the party whip, had the support of Dileep Sanghani, a senior BJP leader and former cabinet minister who is the current chairman of IFFCO.

Shah had personally met Radadiya at his residence before the IFFCO election but it didn’t help. State BJP president C.R. Paatil and Sanghani took potshots at each other from public platforms before the election, which further upped the stakes of the IFFCO poll.

“People from the Congress and the AAP joined the BJP and were overnight given tickets (for the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections), which is insulting to the senior BJP cadre and grassroots workers,” Sanghani said.

The Gujarat BJP leadership, known for taking strict action against anti-party activities, has not taken any anti-disciplinary action against Radadiya or Sanghani till date. One of the reasons could be the strong support from within the party for the duo.

Many senior BJP leaders including former deputy chief minister Nitin Patel, Gujarat BJP former president R.C. Faldu, cabinet minister Parshottam Rupala, who is under fire because of the Kshatriya agitation, and three-time MP Naranbhai Kachhadiya, among others, joined the birthday celebration of Sanghani last Sunday at Amreli. The gathering was considered a show of strength to the state BJP leadership.

Kacchadiya has openly expressed his dislike for the BJP candidate from the Amreli Lok Sabha constituency, Bharat Sutariya, and called him incompetent. A fight broke out between two groups of BJP supporters on the day of the declaration of the candidate’s name and the matter went to the police, forcing the state leadership to intervene.

Saurashtra has become an epicentre of what is being seen as the first signs of a “revolt” against the state BJP leadership.

The depth of the discontent was visible yet again when Arvind Ladani, a former Congress MLA who joined the BJP recently and contested the bypoll from Manavadar, penned a letter to the state leadership accusing former minister Jawahar Chavda’s family members of anti-party activities in the Lok Sabha elections.

Chavda became MLA from Manavadar on a Congress ticket but switched to the BJP and won the by-election from the same constituency and was given a ministerial berth in the Vijay Rupani cabinet.

Sources in the BJP said one of the main reasons for the anger among grassroots-level party workers was politicians switching loyalties and becoming MLAs and ministers. Sometimes even news anchors have got confused during live TV debates about the current party affiliation of some MLAs.

Many in the BJP traced the genesis of the dissatisfaction to the Vadodara constituency, from where Narendra Modi had contested and won before leaving it for Varanasi. Senior BJP leader and Mahila Morcha vice-president Jyotiben Pandya was suspended from the party for raising her voice against the two-time sitting MP from Vadodara, Ranjanben Bhatt.

Pandya had made serious allegations of corruption against Bhatt, which forced the BJP leadership to deny her a ticket in this election. Pandya’s bold step gave courage to other leaders within the BJP to speak up. The BJP MLA from Savli, Ketan Inamdar, resigned stating there would be “no compromise on self-respect” but withdrew the action within 24 hours.

The BJP has also replaced the candidate for Sabarkantha, Bhikaji Thakor, with Shobhna Baraiya, wife of a former Congress MLA, triggering a bandh and protests by BJP workers. It is widely believed that the fracas has benefited the Opposition candidate in Sabarkantha, Tushar Chaudhary.

The BJP has also faced a backlash in the form of letters from within the party cadre after the ticket was given to Dhaval Patel, considered an outsider, in Valsad in south Gujarat.

The incidents of open rebellion appear to have made the BJP’s target of leads of 5 lakh from every Gujarat constituency difficult. Strong campaigns by Opposition candidates Geniben Thakor, Chaitar Vasava, Amit Chavda, Prabhaben Taviyad and others could pose a challenge for the BJP to achieve its target of winning all 26 seats in Gujarat unlike in the last two Lok Sabha elections.