The BJP has picked Sameer Modi, a first-time member and an OBC leader, as the president of the Surat district panchayat, sidelining several senior leaders. The party has also selected Umed Chaudhary, a tribal leader, as the vice-president of the Surat district panchayat.
The BJP won 35 of the 36 seats in Surat District Panchayat in the April 26 elections.
While Modi, 52, a commerce graduate, won from the Kholvad seat, which has a sizable Muslim population, Chaudhary, 55, a double graduate in economics, was elected from the Jankhavav district panchayat seat.
Modi and Chaudhary submitted the party mandate for the posts to the Surat District Collector on Monday.
Surat district BJP president Bharat Rathod said that it is for the first time that an OBC leader and a tribal leader become the president and the vice-president of the Surat District Panchayat. “New faces have been selected to lead the Surat District Panchayat. We are hopeful that they will work for the welfare of people and take the state and central government policies and schemes to the beneficiaries,” Rathod said.
Talking to The Indian Express, Modi, who contested the elections for the first time, thanked the party for making him the president of the district panchayat. “Kholvad seat has a sizable number of muslim voters. The AAP candidate, Rekhaben Sanghani, has divided the BJP’s strong vote bank, but the same gap was filled by muslim voters,” Modi said.
Modi, who has seven automobile showrooms in Vadodara and Surat, said that over 60 per cent of the staff in his firm are muslims. “My company has an annual turnover of Rs. 2,200 crore,” he said.
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“My father was president of Kamrej Taluka Panchayat for two terms. He died on May 24, 2015 and the party selected me as the president of the Surat District Panchayat on the same day 10 years later — May 24, 2026,” he said, thanking the BJP for giving him the top post .
“After my selection, I have made an appeal to the party workers and leaders to bring notebooks instead of bouquets and garlands to me. In a single day, I got over 1,300 notebooks and stationery items, which I will distribute to poor students in the government school in Kamrej taluka when the new academic year starts,” Modi said.
Thanking the BJP, Chaudhary, a farmer by profession, said he never expected that the party would pick him ahead of the elected senior leaders. “I was elected a member of Jankhavav Taluka panchayat for the past two terms, and my wife has been the sarpanch for the past 20 years in Jankhavav. My first priority is to carry forward public welfare works. I plan to do something for tribal youth and others in my community in Surat district,” Chaudhary said.
Kamal Saiyed is a senior Correspondent for The Indian Express, providing extensive, on-the-ground coverage from Surat and the broader South Gujarat region and the Union territories of Daman, Diu & Dadra Nagar Haveli. With a reporting career at the publication spanning back to 2007, he has established himself as a high-authority voice on the industrial, social, and political pulse of one of India’s fastest-growing urban hubs.
Expertise
Industrial & Economic Beat: Based in the "Diamond City," Saiyed offers expert reporting on the diamond and textile industries. His work tracks global market shifts (such as De Beers production changes), local trade policies, and the socio-economic challenges facing the millions of workers in Surat’s manufacturing hubs.
Civic & Infrastructure Coverage: He consistently reports on urban development and public safety in Surat, including:
Traffic & Urban Planning: Monitoring the city's 13-fold increase in traffic violations and the implementation of new municipal drives.
Public Safety: Investigative reporting on infrastructure failures, fire safety NOC compliance in schools and commercial buildings, and Metro rail progress.
Political Reporting: Tracking the shifting dynamics between the BJP, Congress, and AAP in South Gujarat and the neighboring Union Territories (Daman, Diu, and Dadra & Nagar Haveli).
Crime beat: Armed with a good source network Saiyed has been able to bring out the human side of crime stories in his region ... Read More
