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Journalism of Courage
Rajkot West, formerly Rajkot II assembly seat is a legend in its own way. In 1967, it was the only seat won by the Bharatiya Jana Sangh, which is now the Bharatiya Janata Party, during the Congress wave.
This was the seat from which Narendra Modi fought his first ever election in 2001, going on to become the chief minister of Gujarat for 13 years.
And now the seat, vacated by Vajubhai Vala who was appointed the governor of Karnataka, is to be the maiden electoral battle for former Rajya Sabha MP and BJP general secretary Vijay Rupani.
Rupani has the arduous task of defending this over five-decade old BJP seat against Congress’s Jayanti Kalaria, in the by elections on October 15. He had remarked about the candidates being weak in the last by-elections where his party lost three of the nine assembly seats.
Excerpts from an interview with Rupani:
Is the party sensing a waning of the Narendra Modi effect in Gujarat, given the loss of three seats last time?
We secured 75 per cent seats in the September by-elections. What went wrong was the candidate selection for a few seats.
These candidates remained inactive. If there was no Narendra Modi effect in the by-elections held in backdrop of Lok Sabha elections, we would have lost six and won just 3 just like what happened in Rajasthan, where we lost all seats.
So, was the Modi effect missing in Rajasthan?
They(Rajasthan) could have also gone wrong in candidate selections.
Who decides the candidates? General impression was that it was the CMO, till Modi was CM. Even Anandi Patel, while campaigning for the September by-elections, called it a challenge for herself and not the party.
Like I said. a lot goes into the candidate selection.
Has the role of the Gujarat BJP chief been downsized since Modi took charge? Nationally, while Amit Shah has been given enough freedom, that was never the case of party chief Ranchchoddas Faldu, who was chosen despite losing the assembly elections in 2012.
Roles of the BJP CM and party chief both are clearly carved out. Because of the difference in personalities of Modi and Faldu, it might look otherwise.in reality the party benefited from the assertive and influential personality of Modi and the mild and unassuming nature of Faldu. Both complemented each other in the growth of the party.
Now that there is new head of CMO, are any changes in party formation too under way?
No such thing has been discussed or considered as of now.
The loss of three seats seems to be casting its shadow in the Rajkot West bypolls. The party is on a no-holds-barred campaign for a seat known as safest for the BJP. Is this a sign of nervousness?
We are just worried about the low voter turn out because this is a by-election. The party is working hard to set a new record for its bastion that it has not lost since 1967.
Known as the BJP’s cradle, even Modi chose Rajkot-II for his maiden election in 2002. We just understand the legacy of the seat.
On September 25, at your nomination-filing rally Faldu asked party workers to forgive your work for the party. Do you sense any dissent against you from within the party?
I have worked for so many candidates and the party for 40 years now. This is the first time I am feeling relaxed as karyakartas have taken away all the responsibilities from me. I am enjoying their full support.
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