BJP’s ‘Troubleshooter’ leaders are devoid of power, not responsibilities

Important leaders who were once considered as the frontrunners for  BJP in Gujarat who were part of the  cabinet of the state  government but with time, there was no change of power but a change of people in power was seen in Gujarat. 

Due to which, the leaders of the BJP government were completely deleted in the elections from the year 2017 and 2022 and with the change they were sidelined and as a result, new faces came to the fore. Even the chief minister was also assigned the post on the first go despite being elected to the Legislative Assembly for the first time.

In areas where the JDP feels a political crisis, old leaders are dropped and given responsibility, for example,

Pradipsinh Jadeja

Asarwa leader Pradipsinh Jadeja, who contested elections from Asarwa assembly seat and then Vatva seat, went on to become the Minister of State for Home Affairs of Gujarat, was suddenly cut off the ticket by the BJP in the 2022 election and has not been given a ticket in the Lok Sabha elections since then. Jadeja is seen at the Vadodara Lok Sabha and Chhotaudepur Lok Sabha meetings and coordinating for a larger victory of the party. Jadeja was once considered a prominent leader, who enjoyed power as minister of state for Home, Gujarat government. 

Bhupendrasinh Chudasama

Bhupendrasinh Chudasama, nicknamed ‘Sankatmochan’ of BJP, has had an interesting political career in which he was given the post of cabinet minister by BJP and wherever the government got into socio-political struggle, Chudasama was given the responsibility to bail them out. Dholka MLA Chudasama was an MLA since 1990. Chudasama kept the party at the forefront of socio-political controversies and kept him active as a crisis reliever in the 2022 Assembly elections by keeping the party away from electoral politics.

Gordhan Zadafia

Before joining the BJP, Gordhan Zadafia was a Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader for 15 years, and was elected as a Member of the Gujarat Legislative Assembly twice in 1995–97 and 1998–2002. He was the Minister of State for Home during 2001-2002 in the state government under the leadership of the then CM Narendra Modi. After Keshubhai, when Modi assumed power in Gujarat, Zadafia founded a political party called Gujarat Puritan Party (GPP). In 2018, Zadafia was promoted to the national level of BJP by making him election in-charge in UP and currently he is the national vice-president of Gujarat BJP and is focusing on Kheda-Anand Lok Sabha seats.

Nitin Patel

Nitin Patel, a former MLA from Mehsana, had to distance himself from the Lok Sabha elections as well - the missing link in the race to become the deputy chief minister of Gujarat and the chief minister of the state. Patel was not given a seat in the assembly elections and contested in the Lok Sabha and suddenly withdrew his candidacy. 

Patel, a leader of Gujarat was a minister of the BJP government from 1995-96 till 2022 and even became the deputy CM  of the state. BJP entrusted Patel as co-in-charge of Rajasthan state assembly elections. Currently,  Patel does not hold any position but his Mehsana holds sway in political spaces including BJP and even though BJP has side-tracked him, he is still fully active politically as a leader of the Patidar Samaj.

Ganpatsinh Vasava

Ganpatsinh Vasava, who was once the speaker of the Gujarat Assembly and a cabinet minister of the state, was removed from the ministerial post and given a ticket in the 2022 elections. Now that the Lok Sabha elections are here, Vasava is busy campaigning in Mangrol Assembly Constituency to give the Bardoli Lok Sabha candidate, Prabhu Vasava, a resounding victory.