Rajkot/Wankaner: Rajkot is known for three things — bapporiyu (afternoon siesta), gaanthiya-jalebi, and cha (tea). The shops selling the last two are now emerging as a major point for discussing ‘kaun chutaanshe‘ (who will be elected).
Gujarat votes in a single phase on 7 May, and Rajkot has emerged as the most-watched political battle in the state — especially in light of last month’s controversial statement by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Union minister and the party’s candidate from the city — Parshottam Rupala.
Since then, Rupala has apologised multiple times. At a public meeting Friday, he said: “I made a mistake for which I have publicly apologised. I don’t think it’s right to pit the Kshatriya community against PM Modi. I appeal to them to rethink their anger against PM Modi.”
સમસ્ત ક્ષત્રિય સમાજને મારી નમ્ર વિનંતી… pic.twitter.com/nPS8bgQsbW
— Parshottam Rupala (मोदी का परिवार) (@PRupala) April 26, 2024
But the city’s significant Kshatriya population has been unrelenting in its protests against the BJP leader, seeing the comments as an insult to their womenfolk. During a speech on 22 March, Rupala had claimed that “maharajas broke bread with the British and also married off their daughters to them”.
With the Rajput anger now spilling over to other parts of the state, caste leaders have organised ‘dharma raths‘ (chariot of duty). The raths meant to travel across all constituencies of Gujarat with the message — ‘Kshatriya ne samman nahi, toh BJP ne maan nahi‘ (Don’t go with BJP if there is no respect for Kshatriyas) — to urge voters to boycott the BJP.
In addition, several mahasammelans have been planned across the state, including in Saurashtra. At the heart of this region, Rajkot is being seen as a litmus test for BJP’s Rupala and Congress’ Dhanani, two Patidar leaders from the neighbouring Amreli who are facing each other on the political battleground after over 21 years.
Also Read: Mihir Bhoj row, Rupala remarks, not enough tickets — why western UP’s Rajputs are angry with BJP
Old rivals, new battleground
“It’s not a personal fight, but a party-to-party contest,” Congress candidate Paresh Dhanani tells ThePrint minutes before his bike rally in Rajkot city. Dhanani, who defeated the then Gujarat minister Rupala in 2002, says the BJP leader’s comments are part of a “well-planned conspiracy to ignite tensions between communities”.
Calling it a swaabhimaan yuddh (Battle for self-respect), Dhanani says the party honoured the verdict of the people in the 2022 assembly elections but that it’s time that the ‘Adhunik Angrez’ (contemporary colonists, referring to BJP) are given a befitting reply.
Dhanani has his plans chalked out — he is currently in the “third round” of campaigning.
“I have been interacting with 18 communities in the region to understand their problems & think of steps needed to uplift them. In round one, I covered several rural and urban segments. Thereafter, in the second leg, I did samvad (interaction) with the people across several centres in the constituency. I have also interacted with party workers. I did a padyatra across Rajkot and the response was overwhelming,” he said.
Apart from trying to capitalise on the alleged insult of women by Rupala, Congress also plans to highlight BJP’s wrongdoings in the state, which the party calls the “Modi Model”.
“Gujarat Model (once stood for) Gandhi and Sardar Patel’s model, which was to strengthen the society. This is the ‘Modi Model’,” he said.
BJP’s strategy and Rupala’s development pitch
For BJP MP Rupala, development in and of Rajkot is now the centerpiece of his campaign. The new international airport, AIIMS, and a new court building — along with ease of doing business — form the pillars around which his campaign is focussed.
Speaking at a meeting in one of the companies (Fomex) in Wankaner, the Union Minister says: “The speed of industrial growth of this region, along with India, is unprecedented”. He refrains from wading into anything but industries, growth, and PM Modi’s ‘Make in India’ pitch at the gathering.
Among those present are Kesridevsinh Jhala, BJP’s Rajya Sabha MP and a Rajput leader belonging to the erstwhile royal family of Wankaner.
On his part, Rupala has apologised multiple times for his remarks over the last month, but it hasn’t been enough for the Kshatriyas.
The BJP has since been busy trying to douse the flames of anger. While sources in BJP say these protests won’t affect the party — even calling it the work of a “faction of people trying to grab the opportunity of getting quick fame” — several rounds of talks members have been held between BJP leaders and the Kshatriya groups, and more are likely in the next few days before the state goes to polls.
Earlier this week, Gujarat Home Minister Harsh Sanghavi held multiple meetings with Kshatriya leaders, not only in Saurashtra but also in Sabarkantha and Banaskantha.
Similarly, Gujarat BJP Chief C.R. Patil met 108 Kshatriya leaders who attended an anti-Rupala gathering in Rajkot a few days ago in Surat Friday. While these leaders have promised their support to the BJP, Patil admitted they were still angry.
“These 108 Kshatriya community leaders have said that their anger is restricted to the candidate (Rupala) and that they will support the BJP under PM Modi’s leadership,” he said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to visit the state on 1 and 2 May. According to party sources, he is likely to address at least two rallies in Saurashtra on the second day of his visit.
The protesting Kshatriya groups have also planned to hold sammelans in the region on the same day.
Rajkot ‘ranmaidan’
Rajkot Lok Sabha constituency is made up of seven assembly segments — Tankara, Wankaner, Rajkot East, Rajkot West, Rajkot South, Rajkot Rural, and Jasdan. The constituency is dominated by Patidars, the caste group to which both Congress and BJP candidates belong — Congress leader Dhanani is a Leuva Patidar while BJP’s Parshottam Rupala is a Kadva Patel.
For years, Rajkot Rural and Rajkot South have been considered the bastions of the BJP — the former since 2007 and the latter since 2012. In 2017, the party wrested Rajkot Rural from the Congress.
Rajkot West, too, has been the citadel of the Sangh for over 50 years — after being with the Bharatiya Jan Sangh, the BJP’s direct political predecessor, from 1967 to 1980, it eventually passed on to the BJP.
It is from this constituency that Prime Minister Narendra Modi fought, and won, his first electoral battle in 2002. It was also a seat that former Karnataka governor Vajubhai Vala and former Gujarat CM Vijay Rupani held at different times.
Tankara, too, has been with the BJP for the larger part of the past three decades. While the Congress won the seat in the 2017 assembly polls, the BJP wrested it back in 2022.
Wankaner, which has a 20.13 percent Muslim population according to the 2011 Census, was a Congress stronghold until 2022, when the BJP seized it.
In 2017, Kunwarjibhai Mohanbhai Bavaliya, then in the Congress, won Jasdan. But he joined the BJP in July 2018 and was eventually made a minister in Gujarat. He retained the seat in the 2022 polls.
Until 1989, Rajkot was held at various times by the Congress, Janata Party, and the Swatantra Party. But, except for the five years between 2009 and 2014, the seat has been with the BJP ever since and is currently held by sitting MP Mohan Kundariya.
This time, however, the BJP decided to drop Kundariya, instead pitching Rupala from there.
According to political analysts, Rupala, who is fighting his first-ever Lok Sabha battle, has an edge over Dhanani despite the Rajput anger. For this, they cite reasons such as a higher Patidar population, a divided Kshatriya community, and BJP’s development push.
Meanwhile, Rajkot residents believe that rapid infrastructure development in the city and increased employment opportunities give the BJP an advantage.
“The BJP has improved our lives. From roads to healthcare facilities, there has been a complete transformation,” said 41-year-old Amit Patel, who runs a tea stall in the city.
Hasmukh Patel, who witnessed Congress candidate Paresh Dhanani’s bike rally near the 80 Feet Road in Rajkot, agrees.
“Congress has nothing on which it can seek a chance. They are only busy trying to find fault in BJP,” he says.
As Rajkot becomes the most watched ranmaidan (battleground), will the Kshatriya anger create further hurdles for the BJP? And can the Opposition Congress take advantage of this opportunity? Ask him this and Congress candidate Paresh Dhanani uses a cricketing analogy.
“For the past one-and-a-half months, Rupala was playing a test match,” he says. “But my party has sent me to score in the Rajkot Premier League.”
(Edited by Uttara Ramaswamy)