On Sunday, a Patidar body, Antarrashtriya Kurmi Sena (AKS), held an event in Rajkot to commemorate the fourth death anniversary of Keshubhai Patel, who was a stalwart of the community and first chief minister of the BJP in Gujarat. The event paid homage to Keshubhai while highlighting his contribution to the development of Gujarat as well as that of the BJP in the state. AKS founder Chirag Patel, who was the event's main organiser, told The Indian Express: “We also passed a resolution to name the new Rajkot International Airport after Keshubhai Patel. Now, the process will be completed to send this resolution with the demand to Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel.” The event was attended by some former BJP MLAs, including Govind Patel, Jitu Patel and Sidhharth Parmar, and ex-BJP MP Vallabh Kathiria, among others. From Keshubhai’s family, his nephew Ashvin Patel attended the function, but his son Bharat Patel skipped it. Chirag said Bharat, who earlier raised the demand for naming the Rajkot International Airport after Keshubhai, could not make it to the event because he was “out of town”. The Rajkot International Airport was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in July last year. Both Chirag and Bharat are considered to be estranged BJP leaders. They have accused the BJP dispensation of “falling short in recognising the contribution of Keshubhai”. The development has brought the spotlight on two-time CM Keshubhai days after the BJP government held Vikas Saptah to celebrate 23 years of Gujarat's “development journey” since PM Modi had taken over as the state CM on October 7, 2001. Modi had then replaced Keshubhai as the CM. A former AAP leader with roots in the RSS, Chirag Patel has been with the BJP for several years. Currently, he says, he has not renewed his BJP membership in its ongoing Sadasyata Abhiyan (membership drive). He had been among the core members of the Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) that spearheaded the Patidar quota agitation in 2015. Explaining why the AKS organised the Rajkot programme, Chirag said, "It is actually the responsibility of BJP to pay homage to Keshubhai. But somewhere, the BJP leaders have fallen short of this 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 organised this function." The Gujarat BJP’s media convener Yagnesh Dave rejected Chirag’s allegations, calling it his “personal sentiments”. “Keshubhai Patel has been a respected leader for the BJP right from Narendrabhai (Modi) to 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, every party worker has affection for him,” Dave said. On the allegations about the BJP “ignoring” Keshubhai’s contribution, Bharat earlier told The Indian Express, "Keshubhai had a 75-year stint in politics. I asked why there is a talk of forgetting Keshubhai after conferring him with Padma Bhushan. Why nobody remembered Keshubhai when the Hirasar airport (new Rajkot International Airport) was inaugurated? It does seem that efforts are on to get Keshubhai forgotten." Elaborating on his comments, Bharat also said, "Whose responsibility is it to take forward the name of Keshubhai? It is their (BJP’s) responsibility. But the party is not doing it." He also said that while he remains with the BJP, he is yet to renew his party membership now. Veteran BJP leader and ex-MP Rajendrasinh Rana, who was state party chief during 1998-2005, was considered to be close to Keshubhai. He told The Indian Express earlier that although he was invited for the Rajkot event but due to his “prior commitments” he would not be able to attend it. Rana refrained from commenting on allegations that the BJP was allegedly turning a blind eye to Keshubhai's role in building the party and the state. Hailing the late Patidar leader, Rana however said, "Everybody's interpretation could be different. But Keshubhai's place in Gujarat politics is unique, cutting across party lines. He was a stalwart and a real politician who served the common man.” A senior BJP leader, on condition of anonymity, said: "I think these allegations are an attempt to stay in limelight for political survival while using Keshubhai's name. As regards the allegation about ignoring Keshubhai, that is the case with many other party leaders too. Who is talking about Arun Jaitley's contribution now?” Keshubhai was among the BJP’s founding members in Gujarat. “He travelled and worked tirelessly to strengthen the BJP in the state from 1985 to 1990 when its condition was similar to the Congress's current plight. He also served as Leader of Opposition in the Assembly and then formed the first BJP government in 1995,” said a party leader. A BJP insider said, "Patidars were with Congress earlier. It was Keshubhai who brought them to BJP. And now, they form the core vote bank of the BJP. As the CM, he took some significant decisions. His concept of Gokuliyu Gam (ideal village) has been extended to various landmark schemes that Modi implemented during his CM tenure and now as PM, with 24x7 power supply under Jyotigram Yojana being one of them." The Patidar community is estimated to make up 12-15 % of Gujarat's population, which dominates 48 Assembly constituencies of the state's 182. Keshubhai, who hailed from Rajkot, became the CM twice between 1995 and 2001, during which he also faced rebellion by Shankersinh Vaghela, who formed his government with the Congress’s support for a brief period. After being replaced with Modi as the CM, Keshubhai was sent by the BJP leadership to the Rajya Sabha as a member from 2003 to 2009. In the run-up to the 2012 Assembly polls, he alleged injustice meted out to Patidars by the BJP. He also floated an outfit Gujarat Parivartan Party (GPP), that contested the elections and won two seats. In 2014, the GPP merged with the BJP and Keshubhai resigned as the MLA. In the ensuing bypoll, the BJP fielded his son Bharat from his Visavadar constituency, but he lost to the Congress candidate.
