BJP inducts fresh faces from rival camp

Though state party president Purushottam Rupala announced the new arrivals,there was no word on their utility as either crowd pullers or as possible Lok Sabha poll candidates; the latter remaining an even more distant possibility.

Rupala,significantly,had passed on the mike to Mehta,one of the inducted persons,who announced that the decision to join the BJP was his own,and not that of his father,who was a Congress office-bearer.

As for Nanavati,a lawyer by profession,his father Sudhir has been a senior Congress functionary for years besides running an educational institution and his legal practice.

But the BJP is banking rather heavily on the persuasive skills of junior Nanavati,the runner up of the Lead India campaign,which is his sole claim to fame.

But to what extent will Nanavati,himself a high-end legal luminary,bond with the masses – who matter a lot during elections – is still to be seen.

On the other hand,Amit Mehta,the grandson of late former Chief Minister Chhabildas Mehta,has already lost one Assembly election as the NCP candidate against Dr Kanubhai Kalsaria of the BJP in Mahuva last time.

He earned a place in the BJP thanks to the proximity of Chhabildas Mehta to the BJP leaders. His is the case of one joining the rivals if one can’t beat them.

It is still unsure as to how many such “surprises” the BJP will spring in the coming days. But it definitely shows the party’s eagerness to raise its brigade of youth leaders.

Senior Congress leader J V Momin has termed the induction as the BJP’s attempt to dilute the Rahul impact which has rattled the party.

“They (the new entrants) have zero political weight and zero social influence but are taken in to make it look like the youths are attracted to the BJP,” he said.

State BJP general secretary Vijay Rupani,on his part,rubbished the Congress view of presenting a youth icon or of Rahul leaving an impact on them.

“The so-called Rahul impact has not reflected in their selection of candidates,who are all 60-plus,” Rupani said.

According to him,unlike the BJP,the Congress leadership is not sincere about giving youngsters a chance.

“These young ones joining the BJP will do whatever the party will ask them to,” he said,when asked if the BJP was going to give them party ticket to prove that it was sincere about giving a chance to the youth.

Two new faces join BJP

The Bharatiya Janata Party announced on Saturday that two more people will join its fold ahead of the elections. Sudhir Upadhyay,a retried colonel and Chhatrapalsinhji Jadeja,a former regional director of Air India will be the new faces in the party.

Upadhyay’s father was a staunch RSS supporter in Sabarkantha district and Upadhyay himself had attended some RSS camps as a student. “At a time when the BJP ideology and Narendra Modi’s leadership is taking Gujarat on the path of development,it is only desirable that the whole nation deserves to be led by the BJP”,Upadhyay said.

When asked,City BJP chief Jagdish Patel said that the party had an entire ex Army men cell and it was functioning well. Jadeja,a former Ranji trophy player,hails from Jamnagar district. “I am a firm believer of the BJP nationalist approach from the beginning and now that I have retired from service,I can devote my full time to strengthen the party”,he said.

The two were to be inducted on Friday but the announcement got delayed due to some unavoidable reasons,said Patel.

— ENS