No ‘caste’ mark on BJP’s CM choice

Vibha Sharma

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, August 5

By picking Vijay Rupani, the BJP leadership—Narendra Modi and Amit Shah primarily— has surprised those who had been betting on the dominant Patel community representative, Nitin Patel, as the next Chief Minister of Gujarat.

The decision holds several messages, including that patience and a low profile pay in contrast to an open show of desire which Nitin Patel was believed to be indulging in.

The key message is that the BJP will not allow “a particular community to guide its decisions”. It is similar to the one the party intended when it overlooked the claims of the Jat community in favour of a Punjabi-Khatri Manohar Lal Khattar in Haryana.

Gujarat, BJP leaders claim, is not about castes, but about the ease of doing business. Gujarat does not vote on the basis of community, they said. “It is a state where people are business-oriented. A businessman only considers a leader who can provide them a better business environment,” they say.

“Gujaratis want peace and business-friendly atmosphere, which Rupani, who belongs to the Jain community— is quite capable of delivering apart from bringing back the state to the path of development and peace ahead of the  2017 Assembly poll,” BJP leaders say.

Morever, while Nitin Patel may belong to the dominant class of Gujarat, it is Rupani who has the eyes and ears of the men who matter the most in the party. The choice was made by Shah, who was given a free hand. Notably, Anandiben did not share the best of relations with Shah.

Being a "sangathan" man, as leaders here describe him, Rupani also enjoys good relations with the all-powerful RSS. 

Though he and Nitin Patel were frontrunners for the post, Rupani had earlier ruled himself out saying he would like to work for the "sangathan". "I have told the party leadership that I would like to work for the organisation," Rupani said in contrast to Patel, whose quest for the top job is well-documented.

Patel had wanted to occupy the chair since the 2014 General Elections and till this morning, he was accepting congratulations and giving interviews on his plans as the CM.

His manifestations did not go unnoticed by the party leadership, which was also not too happy over the collective inability of their Patel leaders, including Nitin Patel, in quelling the quota unrest among the party's loyal vote-bank in Gujarat. 

“Narendrabhai was not a Patel but he remained the CM despite best efforts by Keshubhai, a Patel. Gujarat politics does not work on castes. The political grounding there is different from other states. It can only be divided on the Hindu-Muslim lines. Other than that, Gujaritis want peace and ease of doing business which only Rupani is capable of delivering in the current circumstances,” a BJP leader says.

While Patidars — BJP's support base for years — are angry, Dalits too are adding to its troubles. “Rupani represents Rajkot (west) in the heartland of Saurashtra, which has a significant population of both Patels and Dalits. He is acceptable, keeps a low profile and is non-controversial leader with good tuning with the cadres,” BJP leaders say.