New Delhi: The Congress has named Dalit activist Jignesh Mevani as a working president of the Gujarat unit along with six others to balance caste and regional equations in the poll-bound state.
Mevani, who got elected as an Independent MLA from Vadgam in 2017, was made to join the Congress recently and promoted on Thursday in a tit for tat to rebel Hardik Patel, who recently ditched the Congress to join the BJP. Hardik was instrumental in roping in Mevani, who was seen as a firebrand leader who regularly targeted the BJP.
Interestingly, Mevani slammed Hardik after he joined the BJP, saying a change of ideology for political gains was not a good thing. “Mevani is a fighter. He is a good leader,” AICC secretary in charge of Gujarat Virender Rathore said.
Recently when Mevani was arrested by the Assam police over a tweet related to PM Modi, the entire Congress backed him.
The Congress, which was trying to woo the crucial 15 per cent Patidar votes through Hardik Patel would have to now bank on its own pool of leaders from the community. “We have many Patel leaders like Siddhartha Patel and Paresh Dhanani. There will not be much effect on Hardik’s exit. Kamlesh Patel, considered to be his right hand, did not go with Hardik,” said Rathore.
Among the six other new Gujarat working presidents, five are sitting MLAs, including Mevani. The other lawmakers are Lalit Kagathara, Rutvik Makwana, Ambarish Der and Himmatsingh Patel. Kadir Pirzada and Indravijay Sinh Gohil are senior leaders who have worked closely with the late Ahmed Patel, who was Sonia Gandhi’s political secretary.
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Makwana and Der belong to the OBC community, Pirzada is a Muslim, Gohil is a Kshatriya and Kagathara is from the Patidar community. Himmatsingh is from the Hindi-speaking population and has been a mayor of Ahmedabad.
Rathore said the Gujarat unit chief Jagdish Thakor was always on the move and will now be assisted by the seven leaders. “These seven working presidents will take care of the different parts of the state. They represent a regional and caste balance and will work in coordination with the existing team,” said Rathore.
When asked if having seven working presidents was normal, Rathore cited the example of Haryana where four working presidents were appointed by the AICC recently. “Gujarat is a bigger state, seven working presidents is fine,” he said.
The AICC secretary played down the threat from the AAP, who has become hopeful in Gujarat and said the main contest between the Congress and the BJP. “The main contest is between BJP and Congress. The fight will be good this time. AAP is nowhere,” said Rathore.
The move to appoint seven working presidents came a day after the party-appointed senior leaders as AICC observers at the level of 26 Lok Sabha constituencies in the state. “The work allocation of the new working presidents will happen soon. They will work in coordination with the observers,” said Rathore.
