Rahul Shrivastava | Edited by Ganesh Kumar Radha Udayakumar

In a viral video whose authenticity is yet to be verified, Gujarat CM Vijay Rupani can be heard saying, “The situation is bad.”

Has Vijay Rupani, the caretaker chief minister of poll-bound Gujarat, revealed the jitters in the BJP in an alleged video recording of his conversation with independent candidates?

Rupani allegedly asks the candidates to withdraw from the contest as it is tight. The video, whose authenticity is yet to be verified, has gone viral.The Congress has said Rupani’s recorded remarks undo the BJP top brass’ claims that they are confident of a win in the Gujarat Assembly election.

In the video, Rupani can allegedly be heard saying that “The situation is bad.” He talks about how PM Modi made him the chief minister despite the fact that the Jain population in Gujarat is 5 per cent, and says he is the lone Jain chief minister in the country.
B
ATTLE FOR WADHAWAN
The episode stems from the battle for the Wadhawan constituency in Surendranagar district in Gujarat, where five candidates belonging to the Jain community had filed nomination as independents eyeing the nearly 18,000 Jain voters.

This was after the BJP didn’t field the sitting MLA from the constituency – Varshaben Doshi – in its first list, and instead fielded Dhanjibhai Patel, a Kadva Patidar who is the proprietor of the Makson group, a confectionery-making firm.

The two-time MLA Doshi had reacted to her exit from the list of contestants with a “request” to her supporters to vote for the BJP and Dhanjibhai Patel.

The dominant Jains of the constituency went on the war path and five locals from the community filed their nominations as Independents.These were Nareshbhai shah, Bharat Kothari, Bhavesh Vora, Rachit Shah and Milan Shah.

Realising that the presence of so many Jains will ruin the chances of the BJP candidate Vijay Rupani allegedly went in for damage control.The independents were called for discussions and after a series of meetings the five withdrew their nominations on November 24, the last day for withdrawal.

In the purported conversation that has gone viral, Rupani is heard asking one “Nareshbhai” to consider the gravity of the situation.

‘CONSPIRACY’
The BJP is yet to publicly challenge the authenticity of the recording. Off the record, BJP leaders say that they are not aware of any such remark by the CM.But one of the independents, Nareshbhai Shah, has said the recording is a conspiracy to malign independent candidates like him, and that he has filed a complaint with the district police’s crime branch.

Varshaben Doshi, who lost the opportunity for a third straight election from Wadhawan, maintains that she is loyal to the party.Speaking to India Today, she said, “Jains were unhappy with the decision to drop me. But I have the BJP in my DNA and I have not said a word against the decision. Instead I have tried to convince my supporters that they should vote for Dhanjibhai Patel.”