State RJP president Madhusudan Mistry and former chief minister Dilip Parikh told reporters here on Monday that Chief Minister Keshubhai Patel should own up the government failure in controlling the flood situation and resign forthwith, as the chaos in Surat was the latest example of the government inefficiency.

The leaders claimed that the chaos was because of the internal feud among BJP ministers and leaders and their tendency to run down own colleagues. According to them, the flood-hit people were disillusioned with the BJP and its leaders.Refuting the claim that they had faced hostile people in Surat, Parikh and Mistry said that except for Amroli, nowhere else the people said they did not want to talk to politicians. Even in Amroli, those who opposed ``our visit were not the local people but the members of VHP-Bajrang Dal drafted by the BJP which was already receiving public rebuke''.

The RJP leaders also denied they were chased in Surat, and claimed at some places, people commended them for taking the initiative as nobody had gone there so far. ``People were seeking out Keshubhai, Kashiram Rana and Narottam Patel with their anger directed towards the BJP'', Parikh said, adding their team led by RJP supremo Shanker Singh Vaghela, had visited 10 areas in Surat for an on-the-spot estimate of the damage. The RJP leaders alleged that Surat was suffering the consequences of criminal negligence by the BJP administration which first ignored the early warnings from Madhya Pradesh and later released seven lakh cusecs from Ukai dam in one day. Now that the people have lost their property, the government should give provide them with cash immediately, they demanded.