Ahmedabad:
The next few months will see political parties in Gujarat campaigning for the next election.
Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP have an opponent within - 82-year-old Keshubhai Patel, who was chief minister till he was replaced by Mr Modi in 2001, has been holding rallies targeting the powerful Patel community. Mr Patel has been hinting that Mr Modi does not have his vote, at any rate.
Mr Patel has at four major public gatherings this year spoken against Mr Modi. On Saturday, he took aim at the chief minister on different fronts. He dismissed Mr Modi's sadbhavna mission which has the chief minister fasting in different parts of the state, a tour he has controversially dedicated to promoting communal harmony.
"People can be won over by love, but not by taking them to your programme free of cost in state-owned buses..this is fake love for the people," Mr Patel said at a public function on Saturday.
He also said bureaucrats and policemen who fight for the truth "being suppressed". He also said that, "Be it trains, buses, rickshaws, even at home, nobody feels safe. The claims of a secure Gujarat seem just a myth."
Addressing a police academy on the outskirts of Ahmedabad, Mr Modi retaliated today by saying, " There is a concerted attempt by forces and government in Delhi to defame the Gujarat police and injure its morale. But I congratulate the Gujarat police for remaining undeterred and ensuring that in the last 10 years, law and order has remained under control."
The Patels constitute about 18 per cent of Gujarat's population.
In the run-up to the last elections in 2007, Mr Patel had taken a tough stand against Mr Modi. The party's top leadership was forced to intervene and asked Mr Patel to end his campaign against the chief minister.