New Delhi/Ahmedabad: The discomfort shows. Narendra Modi and Keshubhai Patel have fallen apart and much there is no way of breaking the wall of silence between them. The Patel patriarch was the first to raise his voice against Modi within the Gujarat BJP more than five years ago. Now the BJP leadership finds it hard to explain why Patel calls Modi a Hitler. ‘њIn India, whenever a politician turns authoritarian, he’s labeled as Hitler,’ќ BJP leader L K Advnai said.

Unlike 2002, when he maintained a discreet silence on Modi, Patel has been a vocal critic of Modi this time around. When the Sardar Patel Utkarsh Samity published a newspaper ad listing all the charges levelled by him against Modi, the former chief minister simply said that while he hadn’t got the ad published, he agreed with what was printed. ‘њHis (Modi’s) way of functioning is neither good for the party nor for the state,’ќ Patel said.

In 1998, Patel, the grand old man of Gujarat polity, spearheaded a thumping victory for the BJP in Saurashtra. His staying away has further distanced the already disenchanted Patels from Modi. The trouble doesn’t end there for the Gujarat Chief Minister. Former chief minister, Suresh Mehta who is influential in Kutch, may quit the BJP on Saturday.