Ex-BJP min leads campaign against Gujarat govt in Modi–Shah home turf

The ruling BJP seems to be facing some embarrassment in the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah — Gujarat.

A former BJP cabinet minister has triggered a political storm with a direct attack on Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel’s government on unemployment, paper leaks, mismanagement, basically general systemic failures.

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The man at the centre stage is Jawaharbhai Chavda, who is leading an “Employment Assistance Campaign,”. On the back of the criticism are said to be factional rivalries and a perception that party leadership sidelined him, resulting in political isolation despite being in BJP.

Ahead of the 2027 Assembly elections, these tensions seem to be also causing factionalism within BJP in Saurashtra, adding a new narrative to Gujarat’s political landscape.

Chavda is currently with the BJP, which he joined after resigning from the Congress around the 2017 Assembly elections. He became the Cabinet minister of Tourism and Fisheries in the Vijay Rupani ministry in 2019.

Chavda continues to be in the BJP, as of now, but his campaign has brought to the surface internal friction within the party. Apparently, the campaign is “gaining significant traction among unemployed youth and women”.

BJP leaders dismiss reports of any trouble in Gujarat, saying that everyone cannot be made a minister in the government and the party also needs strong leaders to work on the ground.

Apparently, Chavda was not included in the new Gujarat cabinet because the leadership made a strategic decision to reward long-serving party loyalists.

Over the years, many Congress leaders have switched to the BJP hoping for ministerial roles. BJP leaders add that “all decisions are taken in mind for the good of the state and its people and in mind factors like loyalty, balancing caste and regional aspirations, it is not the question of one individual but the entire state.”

Meanwhile, speculation is that Chavda might return to the Congress.