ગુજરાતી
English
Dilip Patel
Ahmedabad, 9 September 2024
No one was asking BJP, when BJP could not find a single candidate to contest elections in Gujarat, then the footpath parliament was going on in Kharia. Which was going on since the time of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. BJP took it to the people.
At that time there was Jan Sangh, not BJP, no one was asking Jan Sangh and then BJP was established, of course then its strongholds were Kharia and Rajkot.
BJP’s activity was more in Kharia. At that time it was a big test to bring BJP among the people.
Leaders Nathlal Jagda and Ashok Bhatt decided to start the footpath parliament not in Parliament but in Kharia. Whatever councilors and MLAs are in it, they should unite and answer the questions of the public.
Expressing the problems of electricity, water, sewerage of the people.
There was no talk in the newspaper, decided to start wall printing.
Gujarat Jan Sangh was established in 1951. There were Keshubhai Patel, Nathalala Vukra, Harisingh Gohel (brother) of Bhavnagar, Chiman Shukla, Maniyar. Prominent among them were Nathalala Vikrama living in Kalupur, Vasanjgendra Gadkar living in Kharia. After that Narendra Modi made the situation very bad.
Harin Pathak was the first person to popularize Jan Sangh in Kharia. Harin Pathak, who was a Rashtriya Swayamsevak in 1960, started politics with Jan Sangh from 1962. He is one of the first Jan Sanghis of Gujarat. Harin Pathak was 15 years old when Govindbhai was putting up posters. In 1966 Govindbhai fought again.
In 1967 when Harin Pathak gave his first lecture in Kharia it was in Hindi. Nathkaka was very impressed by that lecture. Pathal Chote is known as Bajpayee and Veer as Chapati Wala because Nanak had said that he speaks Hindi like Bajpayee.
Pathan was made the president of the booth committee.
In 1975, Harin Pathak was the first person to be elected from Jansangh. In 1970, Panditji’s old associates Ashok Bhatt and Jayendra Pandiya contested against Sam. Jayendra Pandit was not in BJP then but Ashok Bhatt contested from Jansangh and Panditji from PSP. Then Ashok Bhatt brought Bansikaka and his old friend Pandit with him in 1973. Since then Jansangh had become strong in Kharia. When Ashok Bhatt contested the election, he got only 2300 votes. Ashok bhai had been deposed.
In 1967, teacher Harin Pathak was the minister of Jansangh Kharia. In 1969, Ashok Bhatt came from being a mill worker to active politics.
The new generation does not know that BJP does not belong to Narendra Modi. But Narendra Modi exists because of such leaders.
At that time there was Jan Sangh, not BJP, no one was asking about Jan Sangh and then BJP was established, of course then its strongholds were Kharia and Rajkot.
BJP was more active in Kharia. At that time it was a big test to bring BJP among the people.
Leaders Nathlal Jagda and Ashok Bhatt decided to start a footpath parliament not in the parliament but in Kharia. All the councilors and MLAs in it should unite and answer the questions of the public.
Expressing the problems of electricity, water, sewerage of the people.
There was no talk in the newspaper, decided to start wall printing.
Bhajiya and Phulwadi of Raipur of Kharia are popular and many people come to eat Phulwadi. A black board was made on the wall, at that time news was printed at night and the work done for the people was also written. Gradually, Kharia became a stronghold of BJP.
People from outside the Gulf started coming and presenting problems. At that time when the price of oil increased by one rupee, the price of sugar increased, the price of milk increased by five paise, then we took out rallies, agitated, due to which people started accepting us.
Neither the assembly elections of 1980 were held nor the municipal elections of 1981.
At that time people raised their voice against the hooliganism in Gujarat, initially people did not come out, workers were not available. Latif gang was active in Gujarat, due to the front we opened against him, he finally went to jail and people started trusting him, but gradually college students joined it and thus the party became strong.
The time after the communal violence of 1985 in Gujarat was important for BJP. People were tired of communal violence.
The youth front was led by Bharat Barot. It was decided to move forward with Hindutva. Slogans like cow slaughter, construction of Ram temple, abolition of Article 370 etc. started being written on the walls of colleges and Ahmedabad city. Accused of inciting communal sentiments. This matter was also raised in the assembly. BJP leaders also reprimanded. The work continued. Slowly, the youth started joining and made the first dent in the Congress stronghold in the university elections. BJP’s Yuva Morcha became strong. Bharat Barot was the then Yuva Morcha president of BJP and former MLA.
Dalit leader Fakir Vaghela used to visit Dalits’ homes with the then BJP president Shankar Singh Vaghela.
In late 1986, municipal elections came and BJP jumped into it.
There was no candidate, no one believed that BJP could win. Doctors, engineers and lawyers were not ready to fight for BJP.
No one was ready to believe that BJP could win and finally the panel retained Jasumaati Behan Barot and gave tickets to the rest of the youth.
Unemployed youth were registered as BJP candidates at throwaway prices. A parallel government employment office was set up and registered candidates applied as per the advertisements in the press and people got jobs in private companies. This reduced people’s interest in government employment offices.
Two years of efforts also created a wave of Hindutva in the area.
Don Latif of Gujarat contested the 1986 elections from five seats, contested and won from five seats, but for the first time BJP got majority in the corporation. Latif resigned from four posts and the BJP candidate was the second-ranked BJP candidate on all four posts. In such a situation, when the BJP’s strength increased, it seemed that the road to Gandhinagar was becoming easier for the BJP.
The then corporator who was elected after Latif’s resignation was Bhaminibahen Patel. No one had the courage to stand against Latif in the elections. Patel stood in the elections against this. People called her Jhansi ki Rani, because people laughed at the name of Don Latif. It was difficult to fight communal violence and Latif people. But due to his courage there was no problem. He became a councilor. I fought against some people who used to grab houses at cheap rates by intimidation, which created the image of BJP as a different party. He succeeded in creating the image of a party different from other parties in terms of corruption and corruption, which had an impact on the whole of Gujarat.
To maintain the impression of being different, Harin Pathal refused to become the mayor of Ahmedabad or take any big post in the corporation. Jayendra Pandit, who runs a grocery shop, was made the mayor. So that the impression is created that the party belongs to the common man.
Many people including leader Praful Barot and Dr. Mukul Sah were active.
Tea was available for 40 paise, pan-masala was also available for 60 to 70 paise, cigarettes were also available for less than one rupee, movie tickets were available for two and a half rupees, expensive tickets were available for three and a half to three rupees. So we collected two rupee notes and stamped BJP’s seal on them because two rupees currency was very high. Then this note came into circulation. In which Harin Pathak won the Lok Sabha elections.
With the footpath parliament, we have made Gujarat our stronghold.
Before the 1986 elections, BJP was successful in attracting people’s attention. After that, whether it was a two rupee note or a song.
At that time, BJP’s campaign strategy included making songs and playing them at every religious place, distributing cassettes for free. To gain popularity, they used to distribute things like T-shirts, caps etc. so that people could get popularity.
