Antarrashtriya Kurmi Sena, an unregistered group of Patidar community members, has organised a Smaranjali Sabha to pay homage to former Chief Minister of Gujarat, Keshubhai Patel, in Rajkot on October 27. The programme is being held to mark the fourth death anniversary of Keshubhai, who died on October 29, 2020. Addressing a press conference in Rajkot, founder member of Antarrashtriya Kurmi Sena (AKS), Chirag Patel, said despite getting a very small tenure as CM, Keshubhai contributed a lot to the state. Keshubhai became the CM on two occasions between 1995 and 2001. “He (Keshubhai) provided Narmada water for drinking and irrigation, provided safety to the people and rid Saurahtra of 'terror regime',” Chirag said, adding that Keshubhai was the man behind projects like Gujarat Science City, GIFT City, Jyotigram Yojana and Kalpsar project. “Apart from that, Keshubhai worked tirelessly for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) after its formation in 1980 and formed a first BJP government (in Gujarat). It is actually the responsibility of the BJP to pay homage to Keshubhai. But somewhere, the leaders of BJP have fallen short of the expectation. When those who grew up under Keshubhai have forgotten him, it is the duty of youths like us to pay homage to a man who has done so much for Gujarat. And so, we have organised this programme,” Chirag said. Most of the leading Patidar community leaders have been invited for the event that would be held in the evening, Chirag said. A book on Kesbhubhai is also going to be released at the event, he said, adding Keshubhai's son, Bharat Patel, will be in attendance. Notably, Bharat Patel had raised a demand to name the newly built international airport of Rajkot after Keshubhai Patel. When contacted, Gujarat BJP media convener Yagnesh Dave refuted the allegation levelled by Chirag and said that it could be his personal opinion. “Keshubhai Patel has been a respected leader for the BJP – right from Narendrabhai (Modi) to each and every party worker and he will remain so. Keshubhai was the first CM of BJP in Gujarat and formed the government twice after a lot of struggle. So, each and every party worker has affection for him,” Dave said. On the issue of demand to name the Rajkot International Airport after Keshubhai, Dave said that the decision in that regard is being taken by the Airports Authority of India.
