New Delhi: Gearing up for Gujarat assembly elections, BJP chief Amit Shah today appointed Bhupendra Yadav as party's In-charge for the western state. The BJP has high stakes in Gujarat elections as for the first time since 2002, the BJP will be going to the polls without Narendra Modi as the Chief Ministerial candidate. Mr Yadav is said to have good working relations with Mr Shah. The BJP government in Gujarat since Mr Modi's shift to Delhi as Prime Minister has been under severe attack - both politically and socially.
In July 2015 Patidar youth, many of whom are surnamed ‘Patel’, started public demonstrations across Gujarat demanding Other Backward Class (OBC) status for their community, which would entitle Patidars to a reserved quota of places in government jobs and education. The Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) was floated to spearhead the stir and created a young protagonist named Hardik Patel.
The agitation started in Mehsana on 6 July 2015 and it spread to other places in the state. Under attack, the BJP also had to replace Ms Anandiben Patel as the Chief Minister with the new incumbent a low profile Vijay Rupani. Besides Congress and parties like NCP, in this year's election, BJP is also likely to face problems due to the presence of another party, Aam Aadmi Party of Arvind Kejriwal. (UNI)