While taking stock of the preparations for the Assembly polls coming up in Gujarat later this year, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president J. P. Nadda on Friday said Gujarat is a “laboratory” for the BJP on matters pertaining to governance and party organisation.
“Gujarat is a laboratory of governance and party organisation. We will implement this model across the country. As a party chief, it is also my responsibility to take this model ahead,” he told reporters during a press conference at the State BJP headquarters in Gandhinagar.
Mr. Nadda said successful “experiments” to develop the party and make it a “medium of change” were carried out in Gujarat when Narendra Modi was first a party office-bearer and later, the Chief Minister of the State.
“Modi-ji created a development model in Gujarat. At the national level, we are now seeing that model being replicated nationally,” Mr. Nadda said.
Giving an example of the experiment, Mr. Nadda said that the sudden change of guard effected by the party in 2021 in Gujarat when the then Chief Minister Vijay Rupani and his Cabinet resigned, and the new government under Bhupendra Patel’s leadership that replaced it was also an experiment carried out as part of the party’s strategy.
When asked why the entire government was replaced, Mr. Nadda called it an “experiment”.
“See, it’s a laboratory. Otherwise, which party would have dared to do that? It was part of our strategy and it cannot be discussed in public. Let us decide what experiment is needed for what purpose,” Mr. Nadda said when asked about the reason for the Rupani Cabinet’s exit in September 2021.
He also lashed out at Opposition parties for practising caste-based politics while crediting Prime Minister Modi for initiating “politics of development” in the country.
On Friday, Mr. Nadda had a packed schedule, with a series of events and meetings lined up in Ahmedabad, Gandhinagar and Vadodara.
He arrived on Friday morning and straightway visited Sabarmati Ashram, and the State BJP office, where he held meetings with the top functionaries and addressed a press briefing.
While addressing BJP workers at a university convention centre in Ahmedabad, Mr. Nadda said the BJP was the only party with “national character” in the country now.
“Except the BJP, there is not a single national party in the country because all the regional parties have now become family-controlled parties. For example, National Conference and PDP (People’s Democratic Party) in Jammu & Kashmir, [Shiromani] Akali Dal, Lok Dal, Samajwadi Party, RJD (Rashtriya Janata Dal), BJD (Biju Janata Dal), YSR Congress, TRS (Telangana Rashtra Samithi), DMK (Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam), NCP (Nationalist Congress Party), and Shiv Sena,” Mr. Nadda said.
He also said that it would take 50-60 years for other parties to dislodge the BJP from the Centre.
