Union Jal Shakti Minister Chandrakant Raghunath Patil, 70, recently stepped down as the Gujarat BJP president after completing a successful stint lasting for more than five years, including over two years on extension. The high point of Patil’s innings marked by several firsts was the 2022 Assembly elections which saw the party returning to power by winning 156 of 182 seats — the largest-ever majority in the state’s history. In an interview with The Indian Express, Patil speaks on various aspects of his tenure and future plans. Excerpts:
When I was appointed the party president on July 20, 2020, we had 99 Assembly seats, five district panchayats… Karyakarta ka morale down tha (party workers’ morale was low)… So I first started with boosting their morale… I told them (workers) that what we won earlier you got us that victory… (and that) only you can make the results better. Once I set the target to win 182 seats in the 2022 Assembly elections, the talk of losing the polls was forgotten. Even media began talking about 182 (seats)… Ek josh aa gaya ki 182 jeetna hai (we got galvanised about winning 182 seats). Some people said we will not be able to win, that these are tall claims etc, moochon mein haste the hamare log bhi (even some of our leaders made fun of it).
I gave them a target, but I also told them that those who were there for many years, for example in the district panchayats those above 60 years, would not be repeated.
When we set the age bar (of 60 years for selecting candidates for the 2021 Gujarat local body polls), we got many new people. In Ahmedabad (Municipal Corporation) elections, there were 115 new faces. In Surat (civic body polls) there were over 100 new faces, and similarly many (fresh faces) in Vadodara, Rajkot, Jamnagar… We had altogether 396 seats in the corporations, which rose by 100 seats after this operation, which was quite an achievement.
We had five district panchayats. With the new formula of 60-year bar and non-repetition of three-term candidates, we won all 31 district panchayats.
In taluka panchayats, we won 213. In nagar palikas, out of 91, we won 89. We won nine Assembly seat bypolls. In the 2022 Assembly elections, there were nine seats which we had never won after Gujarat became a separate state, including Vyara, Mahudha and Borsad. We won six of these nine seats.
Hamare saamne AAP wale aaye they jo sarkar banane ki baat kar rahe the (The AAP had forayed into the state to challenge us, claiming to form the government). They lost deposits in 126 seats.
Besides, of the 350 co-operative bodies – all dairies, APMC (Agricultural Produce Market Committee), Kheti Bank – we won 349. We had never won Amul Dairy – this time we won 11 of 13 seats there.
* You had hardly any organisational experience when you took the helm of the state BJP. How did you work out your strategies?
We used data, formed “page committees”. We made members (in page committees) in 74 lakh houses across Gujarat. I had experience… I had been contesting (the Lok Sabha) elections since 2009. I don’t campaign, don’t do rallies, don’t ride rickshaws (campaigning in auto-rickshaws) or put up billboards… But I won (all) four times (from Navsari till the 2024 Lok Sabha polls).
I started holding meetings with party workers and leaders in different parts of the state. To boost the morale of the party leaders, I emphasised at my public meetings that BJP workers should be given respect and that no injustice should be done to them by government officials or party leaders. I sent a strict message to all elected BJP leaders across the state, urging them to treat party workers with respect. I said we will not tolerate humiliation of the karyakarta… Because of this, party workers hailed me, appreciated my decisions and felt proud.
Through them (page pramukhs), we have expanded to the areas where we had not reached earlier. Now we have a huge workforce. Such party leaders who earlier misbehaved with party workers, also started giving importance to them.
* What were your advantages?
The popularity of Narendrabhai (Prime Minister Narendra Modi), guidance of Amitbhai (Union Home Minister Amit Shah), karyakartaon ki mehnat (workers’ efforts), and voters’ faith in Modi ji.
* Being the first “non-Gujarati” to hold the post of the state BJP chief, how was your acceptability in the party unit?
I first contested the election from the Navsari Lok Sabha seat in 2009, where a majority of voters belong to the Koli community. People accepted me for my working style and my public outreach. I maintain a comprehensive database of my constituency’s residents, including all core details of voters and their family members. My office staff would call voters on their birthdays and offer condolences on the death of any member in their family. Some party leaders were unhappy with the state BJP president’s responsibilities put on my shoulders. I tackled them and tried to take them into confidence. Yet, some of them remain unhappy till date.
* How did you handle the induction of Congress leaders into the BJP?
In my speeches soon after I became state BJP president, I did announce that no Congress leader would be inducted into the party. The decision was changed after looking at the scenario… Later, amid PM Narendra Modi’s popularity, many senior Congress leaders and MLAs in Gujarat got attracted to the BJP, and we inducted them into our party to increase our outreach.
* With you as the state BJP chief, the party raised the bar by winning 156 seats in 2022. Is there anything else you wanted to do?
I had only one target: To win 182 seats. We got leads of one crore votes in the victories of 2022 (Assembly polls) and 2024 (Lok Sabha elections) – and only because of 3.5 lakh fewer votes we lost 26 seats in the Assembly. And, in the Lok Sabha, we lost one seat (out of 26 seats) because of 30,000 fewer votes. We lost 20 seats by less than 5,000 votes in the 2022 elections. Look at the two seats of Anant Patel (Congress MLA from Vansda) and Chaitar Vasava (AAP MLA from Dediapada), which we lost by a total of 75,000 votes.
* What would be your new targets?
I will work for the people who gave so much love… the party that assigned so many responsibilities… I will work for the party and people till my last breath, whether given a position or not. I will work with new Gujarat party president Jagdish Vishwakarma, and try to get my dream (about BJP winning all 182 seats) come true in the 2027 Assembly elections.