Modi’s proposal has not received support form the high command with party president Rajnath Singh asking Modi to reduce the number of sitting MLAs to be denied tickets in the coming polls.

 Party general secretary and in-charge of Gujarat Arun Jaitley has also sought the Chief  Minister to ‘re-work’ his strategy against the rebels. Though  several of the senior Gujarat BJP leaders have come out openly against the Chief Minister, the Central high command is adopting a ‘wait and watch’ policy.

Modi would withhold the  announcement of party list for assembly polls till the last moments to avoid escalation of rebellion.

Two former Chief Ministers Keshubhai Patel and Suresh Mehta have described Modi in most uncharitable terms but the BJP is still not initiating any disciplinary move against them as it may trigger a bigger rebellion within the party.

Patel is one of the founding members of the BJP unit in the state. Patel who has been addressing dissident organised election rallies in the state has publicly termed Modi as “Hitler”.