In flood-hit Vadodara, BJP faces anger as public ire boils over: heckling leaders to dumping garbage

On Friday, the videos of Vadodara City Assembly constituency’s BJP MLA Manisha Vakil being asked to leave from a residential area during a visit, along with the videos of Balkrishna Shukla, the chief whip of the BJP in the Gujarat Assembly, and other party functionaries being turned away went viral.

BJP corporator Bandish Shah was heckled in Salatwada area and was asked to “take away the Rs 5 water bottle and glucose biscuit packets” that he was distributing as flood relief.

Vadodara is a BJP bastion, a seat that Prime Minister Narendra Modi won in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. However, the recent Lok Sabha elections saw dissent surface in the BJP unit over the party again fielding the incumbent MP, Ranjan Bhatt, from the seat. Jyoti Pandya, the national vice president of the BJP’s mahila morcha, was suspended after she criticised the party for repeating Bhatt. The BJP was however forced to replace Bhatt with debutant Hemang Joshi from the seat, who won the election.

The wide-spread damage caused by the floods has put the BJP in a spot. The elections to the party-ruled Vadodara Municipal Corporation is slated for 2026.

Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel’s announcement of the Rs 1200 crore Vishwamitri river rejuvenation project on Thursday could not enthuse locals as two similar projects announced earlier had never taken off.

The Vishwamitri river project is envisaged to clean the river, which flows through Vadodara, and enhance its capacity. The BJP leaders point out that the continued delay in executing the project could mean trouble for the party.

A BJP’s senior elected representative, who has also faced public ire in his constituency, said, “People are aware that the Vishwamitri project, which has been officially proposed since 2010 has not taken off and the situation is worsening each year. If the current announcement of the project ends up being a no-show, the BJP will certainly face difficulty in the coming years. Each monsoon, the damage is bigger… People are also aware that there is a lack of coordination between the factions in the city unit of the party.”

The BJP city unit’s president Vijay Shah said that for the first 48 hours since Monday’s heavy rains, when the water level continued to rise, no help could be dispatched to marooned residents, leading to much anguish among people.

Shah told The Indian Express: “It is true that this time the flood was higher than all previous years. Earlier, we could immediately dispatch tractors to provide relief material to colonies. This time, even tractors were unable to move out in the waters. By the time the water receded (on Thursday morning), people were anguished… But the party workers immediately reached out.”

Shah added that the party has taken note of the anger on the ground. He said,

“It is the right of the people to display their anger when they have suffered a loss… We understand that people have faced losses and could not save their belongings and vehicles. Our elected representatives are mature people who understand that people are agonised. They will handle such situations.”

Shah also said that it was the first time that the party-ruled state government had allocated funds for the Vishwamitri project and that the party would ensure its execution.

The anger is also palpable in areas where residents were left stranded with no access to electricity, potable water and meals. No help could be sent out in the first 48 hours when the Vishwamitri river breached its maximum sensor level of 35.25 feet, flowing well above 40 feet in most parts of the city as per estimates.

For the BJP that has been in power in the state for over 30 years, the resentment among the residents of Vadodara has caused concerns among its ranks.

A senior BJP functionary from the city said, “Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel and Home Minister Harsh Sanghavi visited the city and an announcement was made on the same day for the Vishwamitri project. The party knows the anger is real.”

Another senior party leader, who accompanied Sanghavi on his all night visit from midnight to 6 am on Saturday to oversee the sanitation work, said that the Home Minister had given out “clear instructions” to the party leaders to “not react” to angry residents and “soak in” their anger.

The senior BJP leader said, “Harsh Sanghavi told the leaders that we must allow the residents to complain and vent out. Most of the MLAs had brought a bag of complaints to the CM and Home Minister regarding the functioning of officers but they were asked to hold off their complaints as it was not the right time. Sanghavi told them to ensure that they do not react and indulge in arguments with residents who are suffering.”

However, the anger is not just against the BJP.

At Harni, which witnessed the most severe waterlogging during the floods, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders, including its city unit president Ashok Oza were chased away when they visited the affected area wearing party scarves on Thursday. Congress leader Ami Ravat also faced opposition during a visit to a flood affected area in her ward.

Flood waters from the Vishwamitri river began entering Vadodara on Monday and the river rose from a level of about 8 feet to cross its danger mark of 24 feet within a span of 10 hours. The river went on to breach the maximum sensor level of 35.25 feet and flooded most parts of the city with areas such as Harni and Sama witnessing up to 11 feet of waterlogging on the streets.

Houses were inundated and vehicles left damaged in the flood. The water began receding on Thursday after 72 hours, when the Vadodara Municipal Corporation decided to shut the gates of the Ajwa reservoir to drain the river. Several areas of the city continued to remain waterlogged on Saturday.