Modi to address Gujarat BJP workers today
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to visit his home state, Gujarat, on Monday and address a gathering of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers at a village near Gandhinagar, a senior leader of the party’s state unit said in Ahmedabad on Sunday. The Prime Minister is scheduled to address a gathering at the Gujarat Gaurav Mahasammelan, which is being organised by the state BJP to celebrate the conclusion of the saffron party’s Gujarat Gaurav Yatra (march for honour) on Sunday, Gujarat BJP chief Jitu Vaghani said. “I bow to the people of Gujarat for blessing BJP for decades. We will always fulfil the dreams of every Gujarati with full strength & vigour,” Modi tweeted. failed to emulate the Modi style of governance despite having worked with him for years. She was strict with them as revenue minister and tougher after becoming CM. “She wouldn’t show respect when she spoke in meetings. She would usually make her point and then insist on getting things done her way. She was not open to counter-ideas from IAS officers for the most part,” the officer said, on condition of anonymity.
Adding: “Modi, despite being a tough taskmaster, used to respect people. He held meetings in a dignified way.” Which, he said, explained why bureaucrats became tight-lipped during Patel’s two-year term. Since they became guarded, it also stopped the incessant flow of positive news from government quarters, as was the case during Modi’s term. “Patel couldn’t carry forward the ‘Modi brand of marketing’ in the truest sense.” In Modi’s time, announcement of big industrial projects was routine and such news was believed to have created a positive atmosphere for the state government.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leadership, mainly Modi and party president Amit Shah, made Patel quit in the aftermath of the Patidar agitation. She failed to dissuade the landowning community (mostly Patels, her own community) from holding protests for reservation in jobs and higher education institutes. Unconfirmed reports about Patel’s proximity to the real estate lobby also contributed to her exit in 2016.
Patel’s successor, Rupani, picked by the Modi-Shah duo, has already begun announcing big-ticket projects as the state prepares for the Assembly poll in December. For the past year, his government has been regularly advertising its achievements and new projects on Gujarati television channels, movie halls and the print media. It is believed that a company which recently signed a memorandum of understanding with the state government, was asked to wait and time the announcement with the election dates.
Rupani, unlike Patel, is considered to be more amenable to bureaucrats. But, can he make a difference in the coming election is still being debated. The other question which troubles the BJP is beating anti-incumbency. Modi was successful as he used to replace most legislators before the elections and people voted in his name. Since Modi has moved and Rupani is yet to prove his mettle, the coming elections seem a tough battleground for the BJP in the wake of anti-incumbency, Patidar and Dalit agitations and implementation of the GST.