Ahmedabad: Of the 14 who’ve served as president of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) since its inception in 1978, 13 have gone on to grow to be MPs, MLAs, social gathering presidents, chief ministers, governors, or Union ministers.
As the one BJYM president who remained out of the echelons of energy till now, Amit Thaker — who served as president of BJYM from 2007 to 2010 — is an exception. Nonetheless, Thaker is all set to contest his maiden election from the Vejalpur meeting seat in Ahmedabad district on a BJP ticket.
The BJYM is the youth wing of the Bharatiya Janata Get together (BJP).
In his political profession spanning over 30 years, Thaker courted the highlight many occasions, together with when he led a statewide protest in Gujarat in opposition to the movie Fanaa, starring actor Aamir Khan, however his proximity with BJP leaders Rajnath Singh and Sanjay Joshi is believed to have hindered his prospects.
Sitting in his modest residence in Ahmedabad, Thaker tells ThePrint: “I’ve carried out the duties the social gathering gave me with honesty and dedication. Typically, the hawa (air) blows in opposition to you however seniors within the social gathering acknowledge my work. This time, I utilized for the ticket regionally and was shocked that the social gathering selected me. In politics, it’s by no means too late.”
Asserting that “winnability just isn’t an issue” in Vejalpur, which the BJP received in 2012 and 2017, Rashmi Kant Shah, the social gathering’s in-charge of the meeting constituency, stated Union Dwelling Minister Amit Shah has “shut ties with voters in Gandhinagar and Ahmedabad”.
“Kishorebhai Chauhan received each elections (from Vejalpur) regardless of a sizeable minority inhabitants right here however he was denied a ticket as a result of anti-incumbency and a recent face was chosen in his place.”
Vejalpur is an city constituency, residence to over 1 lakh Muslims and a couple of.6 lakh Hindus. By betting on Thaker right here, the BJP is hoping to retain Vejalpur and revive the political fortunes of its forgotten Yuva Morcha chief.
“Thaker turned a sufferer of infighting between social gathering seniors however by no means aired his views in public and stored working for the social gathering. His persistence and loyalty started to yield outcomes after 2014 when Modi turned prime minister and he was given a special organisational position,” stated a Gujarat BJP chief.
Including, “He (Thaker) was praised for making inroads among the many state’s tribal belt, notably Bhavnagar as BJP’s in-charge of the district. He was later inducted as a secretary of the state BJP when Jitu Vaghani was appointed Gujarat BJP president in 2016. Amit Shah even deployed him (Thaker) in West Bengal however a ticket from the social gathering appeared out of attain till now.”
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Fanaa protests, rapport with Modi
The 12 months was 2002 and Narendra Modi, then chief minister of Gujarat, was contesting his first meeting election from Rajkot West. The Gujarat unit of BJP’s Yuva Morcha demanded a ticket for its then-president Thaker however the request was shot down by Gujarat BJP chief Rajendra Singh Rana.
Thaker then shot into the limelight in 2006 when he led protests in opposition to Aamir Khan-starrer Fanaa over the actor’s public help for the Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) led by activist Medha Patkar which had miffed then Gujarat CM Modi. Then 35, Thaker even tore up posters of the movie in full public view, whereas ensuring that he was photographed within the act.
Yuva Morcha activists led by Thaker held demonstrations throughout the state, threatening to cease the movie’s launch except Khan issued an apology. The Multiplex Affiliation of Gujarat gave in to the calls for and determined to not display screen the movie fearing assaults on film theatres.
Thaker’s position within the protests caught the attention of Rajnath Singh who upon his appointment as BJP president in 2007, selected him to switch Dharmendra Pradhan as president of the Yuva Morcha.
However as Thaker’s graph in politics rose, his equation with Modi dipped. Among the many causes for this was the truth that Thaker was a protege of former BJP nationwide government member Sanjay Joshi, who shared a turbulent rapport with Modi.
In these years, then Gujarat CM Modi’s relationship with the BJP prime brass, notably Rajnath Singh and Sushma Swaraj, was not as easy because it appeared regardless of which he managed to sideline Keshubhai Patel, and bought Sanjay Joshi dropped from the social gathering’s nationwide government.
Thaker, who had a marginal stake in Gujarat politics, was seen as “Delhi’s man” within the state owing to his proximity with Joshi and Rajnath Singh.
A supply within the Gujarat BJP, recalling a gathering of the social gathering’s election committee held to determine names of candidates for the 2007 Gujarat meeting polls, stated a celebration chief had advisable Thaker’s title. Modi informed then-party president Rajnath Singh that “he (Thaker) is a nationwide chief and will be fielded from anyplace in India however shouldn’t be given a ticket from Gujarat,” the supply added.
Thaker was anticipating a promotion as secretary of the social gathering when Nitin Gadkari took over as BJP president in 2010. Nonetheless, Varun Gandhi — backed by then-former RSS chief late Okay.S. Sudarshan — was made a secretary as a substitute, and Thaker was changed by Anurag Thakur — backed by former Union Finance minister late Arun Jaitley — as president of the Yuva Morcha.
Thaker was able to take the political plunge given his background with the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) — the scholar wing of the BJP — however by no means bought the possibility. He had thrown his hat within the ring in 2007 however the social gathering determined in opposition to giving him a ticket for the Gujarat meeting polls. He was missed for a ticket once more in 2012 however appointed co-convener of the Abroad Associates of BJP (OFBJP), the social gathering’s diaspora wing.
Since then, he has additionally served because the BJP’s in-charge of Anand, Bhavnagar districts.
BJYM presidents — the place are they now
Kalraj Mishra, who served as the primary president of the BJYM from 1978 to 1980, is now the governor of Rajasthan. His successor Satya Deo Singh, who later turned an MP, held the submit until 1986 when it was handed on to Pramod Mahajan, who went on to grow to be a minister in Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s authorities.
Mahajan was succeeded as BJYM president by Rajnath Singh who went on to grow to be chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, BJP president and is now India’s Defence minister. After Rajnath, the workplace was occupied by J.P. Nadda, who has been the nationwide president of the BJP since 2019.
In 1994, Nadda was changed by Uma Bharti, who turned the chief minister of Madhya Pradesh. Bharti handed over the baton to Ramashish Rai, who served because the BJYM chief till 2000 when he was changed with Shivraj Singh Chouhan, now Madhya Pradesh CM, an workplace he has held thrice previously.
Chauhan’s successors G. Kishan Reddy, Dharmendra Pradhan, and Anurag Thakur are all serving as ministers in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Cupboard.
Tejasvi Surya, the sitting president of the Yuva Morcha, is the MP from Bengaluru South, whereas his predecessor Poonam Mahajan is the MP from Mumbai North Central. In the meantime, former BJYM chief Ramashish Rai served one time period as an MLA and one other as an MLC within the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Meeting and Legislative Council, respectively.
Thaker, the one BJYM president who by no means held elected workplace, is now seeking to take the subsequent step in his political journey.
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)
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