Jayesh Radadiya, a former BJP minister and MLA, won the election for the post of director of the Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative Limited (IFFCO) on May 9, defeating the BJP’s official candidate, Bipin Patel, who had the mandate of the party.

This comes after Dileep Sanghani, who had also rebelled against the state leadership, was re-elected unopposed as chairman of IFFCO.

A lack of coordination among the party is also seen to be evident as BJP’s Patel and Radadiya took a head-on battle against each other.

Radadiya received a total of 113 votes, of which 68 were from Rajkot and Morbi districts, in addition to 45 votes from other districts, with 14 votes from outside Saurashtra. This acts as a shock to the BJP, as their candidate Patel, despite being considered close to Amit Shah, only secured 67 votes.

IFFCO elections a blow to BJP?

IFFCO elects 21 directors across the country, and these elections are not to be fought on any symbol or as a party candidate.

Delegates of the cooperative groups cast these votes, which means that the result is decided over who possesses a fairer share of weight over each cooperative sector.

Radadiya contested these elections against Patel of Gota, Ahmedabad, with the slogan that they cannot let someone else preside over where they have been sowing and cultivating for the last 30 years.

This year’s IFFCO election results have supposedly exposed the lack of harmony  in the BJP, as its Saurashtra faction leaders stood successfully and emerged victorious, against the will of the party’s powerful leaders.

Facing the tag of a rebel now in the BJP, Radadiya said, “I was elected unopposed in the last election. I already have the support of 68 representatives of the cooperative sectors of Saurashtra. I had filed my candidature on Apr 24 when Bipin Patel’s name was not even present. He filled out the form later, and suddenly there were talks of a mandate. I was not given any such mandate. I have won by a huge majority in the test of strength.”

Notably, had Radadiya been re-elected unopposed this time too, the alleged Bipin Patel-BJP back-door mandate would not have surfaced.

State BJP president CR Patil had issued mandates to BJP leaders in the cooperative sector a couple of years ago, stating that they were colluding with Congress. This had already sparked outrage in Saurashtra.

Jayesh Radadiya’s rise among party ranks

Radadiya, once considered a bright young leader of the party, has been seemingly sidelined for the past few years.

Radadiya also lost his position in the state’s cabinet after the 2022 assembly elections. Efforts were reportedly also underway to cut him down to size in the cooperative sector. His rebellion is said to be against this cornering by his own party.

The same treatment that was meted out to Radadiya is being said to have been meted towards several leaders in the party’s local and national factions. It remains to be seen who will take inspiration from Radadiya’s potency and follow suit.

IFFCO chairman all out against BJP?

Ahead of the unopposed re-election of Dileep Sanghani as IFFCO chairman, a video of him went viral in which he made serious allegations against defection and recruitment operations.

He reportedly alleged that a Congress member in the morning, switches to the BJP in the afternoon, and gets a ticket. This is utter collusion.

This victory of a leader from the cooperative sector against BJP’s official candidate, who too stated unawareness of the party mandate, clearly has initiated a ripple which may extend up to distances of major consequences.

Bipin Patel’s flattering words for Dileep Sanghani

Patel strikingly congratulated Sanghani, the re-elected chairman of IFFCO, by saying, “I would have been happier had Dileepbhai won the 2012 assembly elections for which he was given a ticket.”

Notably, Sanghani had lost to Congress’s Paresh Dhanani in that election.