The internal rift within the Gujarat BJP came to the fore on Monday with Bharuch Lok Sabha MP Mansukh Vasava accusing Nandod BJP MLA Darshana Deshmukh of supporting Aam Aadmi Party state working president Chaitar Vasava, who undertook a padyatra earlier in the same day demanding “immediate repair” of a 14-km road stretch in Junaraj village of Narmada district.Speaking to reporters Tuesday, Deshmukh refused to react to the allegations made by Mansukh Vasava, saying “I do not need to explain myself.”The padyatra Chaitar, who had handed out a 15-day ultimatum to the administration to repair the road leading to Junaraj, drew the ire of Mansukh Vasava, who is the MP from the area.Story continues below this adThe BJP MP accused the AAP MLA of “theatrics” and dragged fellow party leader and Nandod MLA Darshana Deshmukh into the issue, accusing her of “siding with Chaitar in a desperate attempt to bring him into the BJP”.Addressing a press conference on Monday evening, Mansukh Vasava targeted Deshmukh alleging that she had been “supporting Chaitar” and “giving him lollipops to join the BJP”.Mansukh had said, “Darshanaben is trying to save Chaitar and continues to support him (despite his brush with the law). She desperately wants to get him into the BJP, which will only harm the party. She has been telling people that Mansukh Vasava has framed Chaitar and pushed him into jail. I know that Chaitar will never join the BJP and even if he does, he will only harm the party. Who should her allegiance be in such a situation?”On Tuesday, Chaitar put out a video, terming Mansukh Vasava’s allegations baseless. Meanwhile, Deshmukh addressed a press conference — which was announced right after Mansukh made allegations against her on Monday — and criticised the AAP for “misleading people”.Story continues below this adDeshmukh refused to react to the allegations made by Mansukh Vasava and said, “I do not need to explain myself” while going on to say that the BJP has “proof” of the misdealings that AAP leaders are involved in.Deshmukh said, “What AAP leaders do is unnecessary drama to mislead the voters… It certainly interrupts actual development work in the constituency. The road that AAP had protested for on Monday is already in the works and as per the government process, it will be constructed shortly. Only AAP leaders file RTIs for seeking information about the road contracts and then withdraw them… we know why… It is for anyone to probe and find out what is their motive. The Narmada district AAP leaders have grabbed government lands, and we have proof for that.”Chaitar Vasava, in a video message, said that Mansukh Vasava’s allegation that Deshmukh had been “supporting” him was “baseless”.Chaitar said, “It is unbecoming of such a senior politician to make such baseless statements. Neither any BJP leader nor any elected representative of the BJP– and Darshanaben, who is a BJP MLA, have ever stood in my support. There are issues of public interest in the district and leaders meet for the coordination meetings to make representations. That can’t be called her political support for me.”Story continues below this adParty insiders say that Chaitar’s padyatra in Junaraj has upset the MP, who resides closeby at Rajpipla in Narmada, particularly because of Chaitar’s popularity in the tribal belt.A senior BJP leader said, “It is unfortunate that Mansukhbhai has been regularly naming party colleagues like this in public and alleging that they are working against the party. Even if there is a difference of opinion, it goes against the policy and image of the party… It is true that as a young tribal leader, Chaitar’s immense popularity has been a cause of concern for the BJP. Although he did not manage to snatch the party’s Lok Sabha seat in Bharuch in 2024, he did dent Mansukhbhai’s victory margin by over two lakh votes…”The leader adds that the fact that several young tribal leaders in the BJP in Bharuch and Narmada are former Bharatiya Tribal Party (BTP) cadre — the party which Chaitar Vasava originally hails from — there is a “trust deficit” within veteran BJP leaders.Mansukh Vasava, on Monday, as well as in the past has alleged the former Narmada district BJP president Ghanshyam Patel as well as Jhagadia BJP MLA Ritesh Vasava and BJP leader Prakash Desai — both imports into the party from BTP — have been conniving against him.Story continues below this adChaitar, who was a close confidant of former Dediapada MLA Mahesh Vasava, is known to have “friendly relations” with the two leaders.The unrest within the party is not only restricted to Narmada but also in Bharuch district — another half of Mansukh’s Parliamentary constituency. The BJP witnessed a wide split during the recently concluded Dudh Dhara dairy elections, in which sitting BJP MLA Arunsinh Rana from Vagra taluka fielded an entire panel of contestants to take on the candidates mandated by the party. Two members of Rana’s panel won, including Prakash Desai’s uncontested win. The rebellion, however, was unable to thwart the BJP’s majority in the board.Rana, who had Mansukh Vasava’s support, during the campaign and after the results of the dairy, had launched a scathing attack on Ghanshyam Patel – former Narmada district president of the BJP as well as the chairman of the dairy for 17 years.On Monday, Ghanshyam Patel was elected as chairman for the fourth consecutive term along with two other vice chairpersons, including a woman Naramada Vasava. “It was a departure from the norm of the dairy so far, which has never seen two vice presidents, but it was apt to do so as there was a need for tribal representation, before questions were raised… The BJP continues to ignore Mansukh Vasava’s public outbursts as at the moment it feels that if anyone can counter Chaitar in the region it continues to be Mansukhbhai. However, with the new party leadership in the state now, we need to see if any word of caution will be issued to Mansukh Vasava too, ” a senior functionary said.BJP spokesperson Yagnesh Dave remained unavailable for comment.