Jagdish Thakor has been appointed Chief of Staff of the Gujarat National Assembly.
Ahmedabad:
Jagdish Thakor, who has emerged as a consensus candidate for the chairmanship of the Gujarat Pradesh Parliamentary Committee (GPCC), is facing the formidable task of defeating the ruling BJP in the parliamentary elections of the year. next.
National Assembly Speaker Sonia Gandhi has appointed Mr Thakor as the new chairman of the Gujarat National Assembly, replacing Amit Chavda, the party announced earlier the same day.
An OBC community leader, Mr Thakor, who has good oratory skills, will have to join all factions in the state unit while taking on the well-organized BJP, which has been in power in the state since 1998. .
Parliamentary sources said Mr Thakor was a consensus candidate as former heads of state Bharatsinh Solanki and Arujn Modhwadia also entered the race.
The party’s high command also toyed with the idea of choosing young Patidar leader Hardik Patel for the post, but he faced significant opposition from within the state unit, they said.
Rajya Sabha member Shaktisinh Gohil was asked to take responsibility but he declined, saying he wanted to contribute on a national level, sources said.
“Thakor doesn’t belong to any faction and that’s why he’s been assigned the responsibility,” a state parliament leader said.
Bharatsinh Solanki, Arjun Modhwadia and Hardik Patel congratulated Mr Thakor after his name was announced and expressed hope that Congress would defeat the BJP under his leadership in the 2022 elections.
With Mr Thakor’s appointment, the party appears to be sticking to its traditional Kshatriya-tribe-Muslim-Dalit voting base.
During the 2017 election, the party tried to appeal to the Patel community after agitation over the Patidar quota. With the impact of the agitation now waning, Congress appears to have chosen an OBC community leader.
Sources say tribal leader Sukhram Rathwa is likely to be appointed opposition leader in the National Assembly.
Former State Assembly Speaker Amit Chavda and Opposition Leader Paresh Dhanani resigned in March 2021 as the party won good results in local agency polls, but failed required to continue until a replacement is found.
Mr. Thakor, now deputy speaker of the state parliament, began his political career as a youth leader and rose through the ranks.
The Kshatriya Thakor community to which he belongs has a large presence in northern and central Gujarat.
He was an MP for Patan from 2009 to 2014 before his defeat in the 2014 Lok Sabha election.
Prior to that, he was elected as an MLA from Dehgam in 2002 and 2007.
“Thakor is a good orator and leader of the fire brand, with connections to the grassroots. He will lead the party in a successful council election,” state parliament spokesman Manish Doshi said.
