Many felt that after a PM from Gujarat, it would not be politically prudent for the party president also to be from the state. Second, criminal cases that jeopardised Shah’s political career and led to his departure from Gujarat still dogged him. His personal election to the Rajya Sabha notwithstanding, Shah has been denied the icing on the cake to celebrate his third anniversary as party president. Inscrutable, crafty, and having a way with raising resources at short notice for the party, Patel has lived to see another day. If Shah breached Patel’s ranks on Tuesday, so did Patel, as the desertion by Nalin Kotadia, BJP’s Keshubhai Patel loyalist who voted for Patel showed.

Source: Economic Times August 09, 2017 19:12 UTC