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Arjun Modhwadia was conspicuous by his absence at the media interaction of the Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC) on Monday, which shared the itinerary of Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra which enters the state on March 7. Even though the Porbandar MLA was already on his way to hand over his resignation to the Speaker, Congress leaders remained in denial when asked about the rumours that Modhwadia had quit.
Within a couple of hours, Modhwadia, 67, confirmed he felt “suffocated” and that ending his 40-year association with the Congress was a “relief”. “If there is any leader who has travelled most extensively for the Congress or held events for the party, it is me. If I have had to quit the party, it is for the Congress to introspect why I was forced to do so,” he said.
In his resignation letter to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Modhwadia said, “Since my dissent, I have met scores of people who were offended by the manner in which the Congress insulted Lord Ram by boycotting the (consecration ceremony) in Ayodhya. To further distract from and humiliate this pious occasion, Rahul Gandhi attempted to create ruckus in Assam (during his Yatra), which further angered our party cadres and citizens of Bharat. In the last few years, I found myself helpless to contribute to the people of my district Porbandar and the state of Gujarat… Hence, it is with a heavy heart that I am resigning from all positions in the Congress, a party with which I have been associated for the past several decades and given my entire life for.”
At least three top leaders from the Congress central leadership had tried to convince Modhwadia to delete his tweet expressing his dissent on January 10, days before the temple consecration, but he had refused.
For the Congress, the setback is huge. Not only is Modhwadia a sitting MLA and a prominent OBC face, but he has also been among the most vocal critics of the BJP-led Gujarat government over the years, first as the Leader of Opposition from 2004 to 2007 and then as the president of the GPCC from 2010 to 2014. Ahead of the 2012 Assembly polls, while he was state president, , the party had announced the ‘Ghar nu ghar (own your home)’ scheme, seen as Congress’s most successful pre-election announcement that saw thousands queue up outside the GPCC headquarters to register themselves for the prospective homes. However, both the party and Modhwadia lost the polls. Party leaders place him next to late Congress leader Ahmed Patel, who was Modhwadia’s mentor during his formative years in the party.
Modhwadia, a mechanical engineer by qualification, joined the Congress in 1993, after resigning from the Gujarat Maritime Board. He was elected as an MLA from Porbandar in his maiden election in 2002 and re-elected in 2007. He lost the 2012 and 2017 polls but was re-elected for a third term in 2022.
Some in the party said it was only a matter of time before he took the step, talking about him being sidelined in recent years, and his disagreement with the party stand on the Ram Temple consecration event. “Modhwadia’s exit was on the cards. He had been sidelined for too long after being removed as the GPCC president in 2014… Many leaders of the party felt strongly about the Congress throwing away the opportunity to strike a chord with the majority sentiment on the Ram Mandir and Modhwadia had been vocal about it,” a party leader said, adding his exit would leave a vacuum in the Saurashtra region that the party would struggle to fill.
One party leader said Modhwadia wrote a series of books to expose corruption in the BJP-led state government but this work was not appreciated by the Congress. “He wrote a book during his tenure as the GPCC president that listed the projects executed in Gujarat because of the grants given by the UPA government at the Centre… to prove the UPA had allotted more funds to Gujarat than the NDA… He also released a book… highlighting suicides in Gujarat… None of his efforts was appreciated,” the Congress leader said.
Another leader recalls the “truckloads” of data that had arrived in each Assembly constituency before the 2012 Gujarat Assembly polls. “(Modhwadia) had a massive plan to implement a booth-level strategy for the Congress… Trucks full of voter data had been received and… he had even streamlined data entry to strengthen the ground work. However, when he was shunted out from the post in 2014, the entire exercise was shelved,” the leader said, adding, “Over the years, he also fell out with Ahmed Patel and then retreated to the sidelines. Even after they patched up in recent years, Modhwadia did not have the same kind of say in the GPCC as he did earlier.”
In January, Modhwadia had openly expressed his disagreement with the party for turning down the invitation to the Ram temple consecration ceremony. “I had said it before, that turning down the invitation was like hurting the sentiments of the people and we should not take such political decisions. But whoever took this decision ensured that the party’s ties with the people broke,” he said.
Speculation is rife that Modhwadia is all set to join the BJP with his disciple, Congress state working president Ambrish Der resigning with him on Monday. Modhwadia, however, is yet to confirm his move. “Today, when I break my ties from the Congress, I am experiencing relief. I will consult my friends to restart my new political journey,” Modhwadia said.
For the BJP, which has announced Union minister Mansukh Mandaviya, a Leuva Patidar, as the candidate for the Porbandar Lok Sabha seat, Modhwadia, who is from the Mer sub-caste of the OBCs, could attract votes from this coastal community to help the minister not only win his first Lok Sabha election but win it with a substantial margin, say sources.
