Rajendra Trivedi: BJP’s Vadodara lynchpin now down a few notches in the pecking order

Rajendra Trivedi was the de facto number two when Bhupendra Patel took charge last year, but has laid low since losing the revenue portfolio in August.

Rajendra Trivedi is a professional lawyer and his rise through the ranks in the BJP was swift. (Express photo by Bhupendra Rana/File)

Perceived as outspoken, Rajendra Trivedi is the BJP’s tallest leader in Vadodara city, the “Brahmin face” in the Bhupendra Patel Cabinet, a former Assembly Speaker, and a lawyer who defended some of the 2002 Gujarat riots accused. The two-time MLA from Vadodara’s Raopura constituency has been keeping a low profile since he lost the revenue portfolio this August reportedly because of “inefficiency”.

In September 2021, when the Patel government replaced the Vijay Rupani-led government, the 68-year-old Trivedi was considered the de facto number two as he was handed the charge of crucial ministries such as Revenue, Disaster Management, Law & Justice, and Legislative & Parliamentary Affairs. Following the Patel administration’s first Cabinet meeting, Trivedi and Education Minister Jitu Vaghani were also appointed the state government’s spokespersons.

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A proactive minister, he received media attention for his surprise visits to revenue department offices and live appearances on social media. This January, based on Trivedi’s directions, 14 complaints were registered against a group of people, including lawyers in Surat and Navsari for their alleged role in seizing the compensation the government had paid to farmers in Navsari for acquiring their land for the Vadodara-Mumbai Express Highway project.

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Last November, the CM and state BJP chief CR Paatil had to step in and chastised Trivedi after the minister stoked controversy by comparing street vendors to those who grab land.

Despite his low profile for the past couple of months, he remains a key leader for the party in the state. “The BJP has been winning the Raopura seat continuously since 1995,” said a BJP leader. “Even before that Jan Sangh won Raopura. Rajendra Trivedi is a tall leader in the party, especially in Vadodara city. He won the seat by a huge margin in 2012 and 2017. As of now, no decision has been made on the candidate from Raopura as it will be the decision of the party’s parliamentary committee. But the party does recognise the work he (Trivedi) has done for the party. There is no reason, at the moment, to not give him another chance.”

Trivedi is a professional lawyer and his rise through the ranks in the BJP was swift. He served as the city unit’s vice president between 1993 and 1996 and defended several men accused in the 2002 Gujarat riots. He was one of the defence lawyers in the Best Bakery massacre case. He also appeared in the 2002 Gulberg Massacre case. Trivedi was a corporator from 1995 to 2000 and from 2005 to 2010 in the Vadodara Municipal Corporation.

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