'He is a man of action and goes to the ground and solves the problem.'
'Be it the Air India crash of Ahmedabad, Morbi bridge collapse, Deesa blast or Gambhira bridge collapse, he is on the spot.'
"Harsh Sanghavi's educational qualification can be questioned but his performance as a minister cannot be questioned," Devanshi Joshi, editor, Jamawat Media, tells Syed Firdaus Ashraf/Rediff in the concluding segment of a two-part interview about last week's ministeral reshuffle in Gujarat.
Does Gujarat have many industries which provide employment?
Skilled employment is a problem. Industrialists want people but they are not getting skilled people. And the people who are in Gujarat are not getting good jobs. There is a mismatch.
And this is the reason that many people are moving towards government jobs. They are ready to do government jobs even after completing MTech.
Educated people are standing in long queues for government clerk jobs and they are not getting it.
The demand for labour and farm labour job is huge, but then, again, you don't find people who are willing to do those jobs in big numbers.
Why did Alpesh Thakore and Hardik Patel, who switched over from the Congress to the BJP, not find a place in the ministry?
It was important for the BJP to send a message to them that they cannot be inducted into the ministry after revolting against them on the streets of Gujarat.
In the ministry which was just sacked, there were four ministers formerly from the Congress and that was not sending the right message to BJP cadres.
This time Arjun Modhwadia is the only ex-Congressman to find a place in the ministry.
Why is Harsh Sanghavi so important for the BJP?
He is a trouble-shooter for the government.
He is a man of action and goes to the ground and solves the problem.
Be it the Air India crash of Ahmedabad, Morbi bridge collapse, Deesa blast or Gambhira bridge collapse, he is on the spot.
As minister of state for home he was the first man from the government to make statements on any crisis in Gujarat even if his ministry had nothing to do with those incidents.
The chief minister of Gujarat has the image of 'mrudu aur makam' (gentleman) because Harsh Sanghavi used to face all the abuse for the government.
The Opposition always accused him of being Class 8 pass.
He has got a good rapport with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah.
He is also preferred by C R Paatil, another strong leader from Gujarat.
So, he is not in any camp but in every camp.
Does it matter to the BJP that he is only a Class 8 pass?
No, it does not matter because many other ministers too were not very educated.
Moreover, the educated ministers' performance too was not that great in Gujarat.
Sanghavi's educational qualification can be questioned but his performance as a minister cannot be questioned.
He was a sports minister and he did a good job for Gujarat. He did all the negotiations going abroad and getting the Commonwealth Games to Gujarat.
He is also trying to get the Olympics to Gujarat.
He has built good sports stadiums in Gujarat.
He was not deputy chief minister (then) but he was doing all the work of the deputy CM.
What is the most surprising thing about this new ministry in Gujarat?
No one from Rajkot has got a ministry. It was from Rajkot that the Bharatiya Jana Sangh started in Gujarat.
Prime Minister Modi won his first election from Rajkot.
Former chief minister Vijay Rupani too was from Rajkot.
Jayesh Radadia is a big leader and it is widely believed in Gujarat that if there is one person who can take on Gopal Italia, it is Jayesh Radadia. He was not made minister. This was surprising.
Now the centre of power in Gujarat has moved to Ahmedabad and Surat. This is a shock for Rajkot as it is a very big city.
Was it surprising that a newcomer like Rivaba Jadeja was made minister?
This was expected. The BJP plays celebrity politics all over India.
Though she is a state minister, she does not have much of a responsibility.
In the future, she will be an important leader for the BJP and moreover, she comes from the Kshatriya caste which adds to her advantage.
The BJP has been in power for 30 years and yet no one seems disillusioned with the BJP in Gujarat. Why so?
Ideally, a fatigue factor should have set in in the public, but this is the strength of the BJP that they never let their guard down.
If you recall, 10 years ago there were leaders in the BJP you felt no one can touch but still they were removed in spite of doing good work.
You see leaders like Anandiben Patel (former chief minister), Nitin Patel (former finance minister), Bhupendra Singh Chudasama and Pradeep Sing Jadeja. All of them have disappeared from politics. The BJP got so many new entrants in powerful positions and they too disappeared.
What about the fatigue factor with, say, Home Minister Amit Shah?
No way, because even after becoming home minister of India he always visits his constituency Gandhinagar twice a month.
He is involved in the day to day issues of voters of his constituency.
If there is an opening of a garden in his constituency, he will ensure he is present there for its inauguration.
As a member of Parliament, he is excellent.
What about PM Modi? Do the people feel prestige that a fellow Gujarati has led India for the last 11 years? Is there no fatigue factor with the voters of Gujarat about him?
For Gujarati voters the fatigue factor does not set in for Modi because they do not have anyone better than him.
In every election the voters of Gujarat question themselves, okay, granted Modi may be bad as a political leader and failing in governance, but if not Modi, who?
There is no answer to this question because Gujarat has not been able to produce a single political leader of his stature till date.
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