Keshubhai asks party to prepare for local body polls in state

After challenging Chief Minister Narendra Modi in the recently-concluded Assembly elections, Gujarat Parivartan Party chief Keshubhai Patel on Sunday appealed to party cadres to gear up for upcoming polls to local bodies.

"In the Assembly elections, though our party got an overwhelming acceptance, we couldn't infuse trust. Now it's our responsibility to convert this acceptance into votes," Patel told a gathering of party workers here.

Thanking party workers for putting up a united fight in the Assembly polls, the former BJP veteran appealed to cadres to "continue with this (enthusiasm) for Panchayat elections slated for next year."

On the occasion, GPP member and former Chief Minister Suresh Mehta while giving details about the local body elections said, "From February 2013, elections of 15 Taluka Panchayats, 77 Nagar Panchayats and 4,000 Gram Panchayats are coming up and we will have to convert our acceptance into votes in these elections." Analysing the party's performance in Assembly elections, Mehta claimed that, "Though GPP could win only two seats, it was instrumental in the defeat of 15 BJP and 8 Congress candidates."