Gujarat was one of the early strongholds of the Bharatiaya Janata Party and its precursor, the Jan Sangh. And, Keshubhai Patel was a formidable mass leader for the Jan Sangh and the BJP for decades in Gujarat. He became Gujarat chief minister twice but never completed his term.
Keshubhai Patel passed away on Thursday in Ahmedabad after complaining of breathlessness. He was a founder member of both the Jan Sangh and the BJP. He was a member of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), having joined the organisation in pre-Independence years as a pracharak (volunteer).STAMP OF KESHUBHAI PATEL
Keshubhai Patel rose to political prominence during Emergency imposed by the Indira Gandhi government in 1970s. He was imprisoned by the Indira Gandhi government and won his first Lok Sabha election in 1977 after Emergency was lifted.
He resigned from his Lok Sabha membership to join the Janata government in Gujarat, where he served as state agriculture minister.
It is ironical that a politician in whom both the Jan Sangh and the BJP saw a mass leader and benefitted from his mass appeal always had to deal with some 'tragedy' while in ministerial position.
In 1979, while Keshubhai Patel was a minister in Gujarat, the Machchhu dam tragedy happened killing hundreds of people in the now Morbi district of Gujarat. It was an earth-fill dam built on Machchhu river, built mainly for the purpose of irrigation.
Excessive rainfall caused massive accumulation of water, leading to bursting of the dam and flooding of Morbi town. Keshubhai Patel spent days in overseeing relief work.
KESHUBHAI, THE CHIEF MINISTER
He kept winning Gujarat Assembly elections through 1980s but his real rise was seen in 1990s when the BJP won majority to form a government in the state. Keshubhai Patel spearheaded the BJP's campaign launching scathing attacks on the Congress with the election defining slogan of "Bhay, Bhukh and Brashtrachar same ni ladai" (This is a fight against fear, hunger and corruption).
Keshubhai Patel became the Gujarat chief minister in March 1995. But he had to resign only seven months later, courtesy another 'tragedy' - this time political in nature.
His long-time colleague since the days in the RSS, Shankersinh Vaghela rebelled against him. The BJP changed the chief minister but Vaghela did not relent and split the BJP to form government with the help of the Congress.
KESHUBHAI AGAIN AND THE ARRIVAL OF MODI
Fresh elections were called in 1998. Keshubhai Patel became the chief minister the second time, for three and a half years. It was during his term that Gujarat's Bhuj was jolted by a massive earthquake on the Republic Day in 2001.
The death toll exceeded 12,000. Loss of property was estimated at over $7.5 billion. It was total devastation. His second resignation from chief ministerial position came in the backdrop of allegations of mismanagement in relief work in Bhuj, corruption and weak governance in Gujarat.
Keshubhai Patel had become politically weak, The BJP - then in power at the Centre with Atal Bihari Vajpayee as the prime minister - was looking for a fresh face for Gujarat. The party needed to send a rejuvenating message to both its cadre and the voters of Gujarat.
The search within the BJP ended at Narendra Modi, then a general secretary of the party. Atal Bihari Vajpayee called him to the Prime Minister's Residence asking him to "leave Delhi".
KESHUBHAI AND MODI: FROM GURU-DISCIPLE TO RIVALS
Vaghela was a formidable rival to Keshubhai. Both had chief ministerial ambition during the 1990s. Narendra Modi had by then proven his organisational ability in the BJP circles. Keshubhai, it was an open secret in Gujarat politics, made good of Narendra Modi to keep his friend-turned-rival Vaghela in check.
Once Vaghela rebelled and was out of the BJP, Keshubhai Patel got Narendra Modi transferred to Delhi as organisational secretary of the party. It was actually a little more than that.
Keshubhai Patel had set certain conditions on Narendra Modi's visits to his home state. That he would not meet a political leader or a journalist and keep his visit restricted to personal affairs only.
Narendra Modi's return to Gujarat was hence routed through the prime minister. Every time Narendra Modi took oath as Gujarat chief minister, he would meet Keshubhai Patel at his home and offer sweets.
Narendra Modi in public maintained that Keshubhai Patel was his "guru" in politics. While Keshubhai Patel campaigned against Narendra Modi in several elections, as prime minister in 2019, he surprised many by touching his feet when they met at a foundation-laying ceremony in Gujarat.
KESHUBHAI PATEL'S LAST INNINGS
Narendra Modi became the Gujarat chief minister in October 2001, and Keshubhai Patel a Rajya Sabha MP from Gujarat in 2002. But he drifted away from the BJP afterwards.
In 2007, Keshubhai publicly supported the Congress asking his supporters to vote for a change in the Gujarat Assembly election. The BJP returned to power raising the political stature of Narendra Modi.
Five years later, Keshubhai Patel launched his own, Gujarat Parivartan Party. He won his own seat but the BJP retained power in Gujarat in 2012 making Narendra Modi, the most powerful contender in the party for prime ministerial candidature for 2014 Lok Sabha polls.
Ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, Keshubhai Patel resigned from his own party and also as an MLA in Gujarat due to advancing age and poor health. He was 86 then. His party merged with the BJP, which later won majority in the parliamentary polls with Narendra Modi taking oath as the prime minister.
Keshubhai Patel is survived by four sons and a daughter. His wife Leela Patel died in an electrical fire in 2006. One of his sons died of cardiac arrest in the US in 2017. Keshubhai Patel was 92
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