In Rajkot West, CM Rupani Fights For Survival Against Crorepati Rajguru

In Gujarat’s Rajkot (west) assembly constituency, Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, is locked in a grim battle for survival against crorepati Indranil Rajguru, Congress’s richest leader in the state. The area is plastered with BJP hoardings, which local media says is the largest number of party hoardings in the entire state.

Rajguru has declared assets worth Rs 141 crore as against Rs 7.4 crore declared by Rupani. He left his Rajkot (east) seat to take on the chief minister who is facing strong anti-incumbency this election.

Interestingly, the Congress man admits that he has money and therefore, he will effectively work for people’s welfare instead of making hollow promises. “I have money and I can help people. Wealth is my USP and it is not viewed negatively in Gujarat. I am equipped to be in politics and serve people,” the legislator told NewsClick.

Rajkot (west) has been a BJP stronghold for almost four decades. The seat was represented by senior BJP leader Vajubhai Vala seven times and former CM Keshubhai Patel in 1977. Even Narendra Modi won a by-poll here after he became Chief Minister in 2001. But this time, it is witnessing the fiercest battle. Perhaps, this is the reason why the constituency has highest number of hoardings.

Rajguru is also called ‘Dhan-Kuber’ (lord of wealth) by the locals. He started preparing for this battle several months ago, when Rupani took charge of the state. “The wrong person cannot get the top-most position. I am not in politics for winning alone. If the battle is not significant, victory doesn’t matter,” says Rajguru. “Rajkot will prepare people of Gujarat to shift to Congress. The government took note of problems of traders with GST only,” he added.

On the other hand, Rupani enjoys the privilege of being handpicked by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who governed the state for 13 years as its chief minister, before moving to Delhi. Though Rupani enjoys the image of being “noncontroversial, soft-spoken and simple” to supporters, but securing the seat does not appear to be a cakewalk for him because he has done “nothing” for his constituency despite being the chief minister of the state, locals say. When asked who is better among the two, the residents of the constituency said they would prefer a “better a full-time MLA than a part-time CM”.

Perhaps, the chief minister too has realised the fact and therefore, he is apparently anxious about securing the seat. This argument is validated by an audio clip (whose authenticity NewsClick could not independently verify) which is making the rounds on social media in which Rupani himself is heard admitting that the condition of the BJP in general and his in particular is very poor in the upcoming elections that will be held on December 9 and 14.

In the audio, Rupani is talking to one Naresh Sangitam from Surendra Nagar and saying that it is becoming difficult for him to woo voters of the Jain community (Rupani himself is a Jain) in Surendra Nagar. During the conversation, he can be heard telling Naresh that PM Modi had called him up and told him that he (Modi) made a Jain chief minister though they (the community) made up only five percent of the total electorate in the state.

“Nareshbhai, we do not have to fight within ourselves. We must regain our form because there is only one Jain chief minister in the entire country,” Rupani can be heared telling Naresh in the audio tape.

Then Rupani makes a candid admission. “Our (the BJP’s) condition is bad here, mine is even worse,” he tells Naresh to which the latter replies, “We will not let your condition deteriorate. We will support you.”

With more than 3.15 lakh voters, Rajkot (west) is the largest constituency in the Saurashtra region. Patidars, who are unhappy with the BJP for not accepting their demands of quota in education and government jobs, have a sizeable population here (around 75,000). Though the community has traditionally supported the saffron party, but now there is uncertainty on which way they would swing. The Congress has reached an understanding with their leader, Hardik Patel, who has vowed not to support the BJP.

While addressing a massive rally in the constituency, Hardik challenged Rupani to win the seat. He wished the chief minister “good luck” during a TV show when the anchor asked him to say something on Rupani’s claim of the BJP securing 150 seats.

BJP is on the defensive because, as the locals’ complain, there is little development in the area. What they find particularly galling is its status as a VIP constituency and being compared to Vadodara. Though nominated to become one of the 100 smart cities under Centre's Smart City Mission, its infrastructure remains poor. Rajkot is considered to the financial hub of Saurashtra.

“It takes only 90 minutes to reach Ahmedabad from Vadodara. But for people in Saurashtra, it takes 4-5 hours,” a resident told NewsClick.

“But the constituency does not even have a good hospital,” complain locals adding that they have one civil hospital and entire Saurashtra region depends on that. The talk of setting up an AIIMS in Vadodara only irks them.