In duel with Modi,Joshi makes his last stand in A’bad,where it all began

It was in 1988-89 that Joshi came to Gujarat from RSS headquarters in Nagpur to take over as the secretary of BJP’s Ahmedabad city unit. By 1990,Modi had become the general secretary of the state BJP while Joshi was appointed a secretary. Both worked together for about five years that saw BJP riding to power for the first time in the state. Keshubhai Patel became the chief minister in 1995 when Joshi and Modi were still in their early 40s.

However,Shankarsinh Vaghela,then in the BJP,rebelled and launched his own outfit to become CM with Congress support. Modi was moved out of the state and Joshi took over as the general secretary (organization) of the state BJP.

In 1998,Keshubhai returned to power. Modi,in the meantime,wanted to get back to Gujarat but Joshi stood in the way. After three years,Keshubhai was unceremoniously removed as CM and replaced by Modi in 2001. The next year,months after the 2002 riots,Modi led the BJP to a resounding victory. Days after he began his second stint as CM,Modi prevailed on the BJP to shift Joshi outside Gujarat. Joshi was brought to Delhi as BJP’s general secretary (organisation).

In the next few years,Joshi’s clout began to grow at the national level. In 2005,as the party celebrated its silver jubilee in Mumbai,a controversial CD purportedly showing him in a compromising position surfaced and Joshi had to resign.

Although the Hyderabad FSL later said the CD was fake,Joshi remained in hibernation until 2011,when BJP national president Nitin Gadkari,also from Nagpur,put him in-charge of UP elections.

Modi bore it silently but his relations with Gadkari became tense. The Gujarat CM even stayed away from campaigning in the five crucial poll-bound states including UP and Punjab and even skipped the BJP national executive last year.

In May,Modi struck again. He threatened to boycott the national executive meet unless Joshi resigned from it. Once again,Modi had his way as Joshi was made to quit.

MJP chief Gordhan Zadaphia,who while in the BJP had worked closely with Joshi from 1990 to 2001,said,“What has happened with a true RSS worker like Joshi is very unfortunate.”