State Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president CR Paatil said that JN Vyas may have resigned from the party as he has attained the age of 75 years and was not going to get a ticket in the upcoming assembly elections in Gujarat.
JN Vyas, a veteran leader who was a cabinet minister in the BJP government, resigned from the primary membership of the party on Saturday.
He was associated with the BJP for over 30 years and served as health minister of Gujarat between 2007 and 2012.
"He (JN Vyas) was with the BJP for 32 years, and in the last 10 years he lost elections twice. Still BJP gave him a ticket. The party has decided not to give tickets to candidates above the age of 75, and this might be the reason behind him leaving the BJP," Paatil claimed while speaking to the media on Saturday.
"It's true that I resigned. For some time, especially in Patan District, people sitting in the organization are desirous of fighting elections and indulging in factionalism. They're targeting leaders one by one in order to remove and replace them," JN Vyas said while speaking toon his resignation from BJP.
On being asked if he would contest the upcoming elections after leaving BJP, Vyas said, "I'll fight the election from Sidhpur but don't want to fight it as an independent candidate."
"If there's no option left, then I might fight an independent candidate otherwise I'll form an alliance with any party I like," he said.
Two-phase assembly elections in Gujarat are scheduled in the first week of December for 182 assembly seats. Of those, 89 seats will go to polls on December 1, and the remaining 93 seats on December 5. Counting for all 182 seats in Gujarat will be held on December 8.
( With inputs from ANI )
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