New Delhi: There’s a saying in Gujarat that goes: “When nothing works, Modi works.” And with the state assembly elections scheduled for later this year, it’s one of the PM’s most trusted lieutenants, C.R. Patil, who is working towards ensuring that the BJP’s three-decade rule in the state continues.
Patil, who is president of the Gujarat BJP and a Lok Sabha MP, has been meeting everyone from party workers to businessmen, doctors to chartered accountants and religious leaders, to address their grievances and garner their support, as part of a massive outreach campaign called the ‘One Day One District’ programme.
But a prominent face is conspicuously missing from these efforts — Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel, who replaced Vijay Rupani in the top post last September.
Sources in the party told ThePrint that the reason behind this isn’t some rift between Patil and the CM — as there was during Rupani’s rule, when the organisation and the chief minister weren’t on the same page.
Rather, it’s because Gujarat is the only BJP-ruled state where the party’s state chief has more clout than the CM, the sources said — in marked contrast to the states ruled by chief ministers like Yogi Adityanath, Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Himanta Biswa Sarma.
The sources characterised Patil as being more assertive, with a say in every decision — be it about party affairs or governance — while the CM, with his “humble” nature, has bridged the gap between the party and the administration. Although the two have contrasting personalities, they appear to be content with their roles, the sources claimed.
Known more for his devotional work than politics before he became CM, Bhupendra Patel, a first-time MLA, was chosen for the post as a fresh face to cool the sentiments of the Patidar community, a vote base that had harboured much anger against the BJP after the 2015 Patidar quota agitation led by Hardik Patel.
But within months of his appointment, Patel has become the administrative head of the state government, while Patil has emerged as the eyes and ears of Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah in Gujarat, making key decisions, right from Gandhinagar to Delhi.
Patel’s low-profile persona, readiness to listen and rapport with party workers without the “ego of a chief minister” is what has helped achieve good coordination between the party and the government, state leaders told ThePrint.
But it’s Patil who calls the shots, they added.
Soon after the party’s victories in four of the five state assembly elections held earlier this year, the PM had held a massive roadshow in Ahmedabad on 11 March. Accompanying Modi and CM Patel was the BJP state president, waving to the crowds, seeking support for the Gujarat assembly elections. This was unlike the PM’s roadshows in other states, where no state unit chief would be seen in the same frame as him.
Last week, when he was in diamond business hub Surat for the ‘One Day One District’ programme, Patil was given a huge welcome by BJP workers as he rode in an open jeep, surrounded by a cavalcade of motorcycles.
Dr Bharatbhai Boghara, vice-president of the Gujarat BJP, told ThePrint: “Patil saheb resolves the grievances of party workers or the public on the spot. His way of working is meticulous. One of the main points of friction that existed during the Rupani government is no more…there is no problem of coordination between the party and the government.”
Also Read: All parties want this soft-spoken Patidar industrialist on their side in Gujarat. Here’s why
Say in key decisions, PM’s eyes & ears
Patil — praised by state leaders for his “innovative ideas” and ability to “energise the party cadre” — has evolved into Modi and Shah’s point person in Gujarat over the past few years.
The three-time MP — he has represented the Navsari seat since 2009 — is originally from Maharashtra and was once a police constable in Surat. It’s when he was in charge of Modi’s new Lok Sabha constituency, Varanasi, post-2014 — alongside then-party president Shah — that he impressed the PM, sources said.
Patil has been managing political affairs such as inducting Congress MLAs into the party, and allegedly opening up a channel for talks with dissident Congress leader Hardik Patel. But, simultaneously, he has also taken on a role in governance.
In March, when Congress MLA Anand Patel expressed support for tribal people protesting against the Par-Tapi-Narmada river-linking project, Patil met Modi, Shah and Jal Shakti minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, and announced in Delhi that project had been shelved. His statement was later ratified by CM Patel.
Last month, a delegation of the Maldhari (cattle-rearers) community approached Patil, expressing opposition to the Gujarat Cattle Control (Keeping and Moving) in Urban Areas Bill that had been passed by the state assembly. Patil then approached the CM, requesting him to reconsider its implementation.
Patil had also told the members of the Maldhari community who met him that the Bill would be withdrawn since the Gujarat Municipalities Act had enough provisions to curb the stray cattle issue. The Bill was ultimately scrapped.
‘Total coordination’, thanks to a ‘humble’ CM
Apart from improving the BJP’s equation with the Patidar community, sources said the other main reason that ex-CM Rupani — considered to have a caste-neutral image — was replaced by Bhupendra Patel was the beating the Rupani government took during the pandemic, when it was accused of mishandling healthcare.
Speaking about Patel as CM, a party leader told ThePrint, “It’s not that he is doing nothing. Eight districts including Vadodara, Patan, Morbi, Gir etc. are getting tap water supply in all households. The government has allocated Rs 2,440 crore for a coastal highway project developed from the Statue of Unity to Shabri Dham in Dang, and launched the Gati Shakti project. Gujarat became the first state to have a district-wise sustainable growth plan ready. The state has distributed 10 million health cards under a centrally sponsored scheme.”
Former Gujarat minister Ranchhod Desai said that there is “total coordination between the party and government”.
“Bhupendrabhai’s best quality is his humbleness. He’s ready to listen to everybody and learn, and meets party workers like family. He has no ego of a chief minister,” he added.
Desai further said: “There is no such resentment against the government this time like in 2017…so there will be no difficulty in achieving a victory for BJP in the assembly election. The CM’s low-profile attitude will help the party in outreach.”
“His religious and social contact has helped the party reach out to different sections of society. We all know that the Gujarat election is fought in the name of Narendra Modi, so others are only there to implement the decisions of Delhi,” a party state functionary told ThePrint.
(Edited by Gitanjali Das)
Also Read: ‘Don’t take AAP too seriously’ — BJP tells Gujarat unit as Kejriwal push worries leaders