Parshottam Rupala, the BJP candidate for the Rajkot constituency in the ongoing Lok Sabha election, has managed to attract unwarranted criticism when he was clearly in a position to avoid the same. When the nation mourns the 33 lives lost in a man-made fire disaster in Rajkot, the high-profile MP candidate from the state has been noticed for being largely absent.
The Fisheries, Animal Husbandry, and Dairy minister in the Union cabinet, Rupala, is busy campaigning for the BJP in West Bengal when political correctness demands him to be visible at the scene of horror, standing with the victims.
Rupala has just withered a dangerous political storm capable of abruptly terminating his otherwise illustrious political career. He offended the Kshatriya community seriously while remarking about the Kshatriya women in history. Caught on the wrong foot, just on the eve of crucial Lok Sabha elections, Rupala managed an escape with great difficulty. It is yet to be seen what difference the Kshatriya discontent makes to the election results, which he and the BJP fight essentially to catapult Narendra Modi as the Prime Minister of India for a historic third term.
Considered a strong leader and an able communicator, Parsottam Rupala’s recent gaffes are baffling, to say the least. Hailing from Amreli, the 70-year-old Rajya Sabha MP had a steady rise in politics. A strong Patidar leader from the Kadva Patel sub-community, counterbalancing the mighty Leuva Patel faction, Rupala has been part of the Union cabinet continuously since July 2016. It speaks volumes of his close association with Narendra Modi and Amit Shah.
Parsottam Rupala had been President of the Gujarat BJP from 2006 to 2010, a period when Gujarat CM Narendra Modi’s glory was ascending in full throttle. Incidentally, it was the same period when the Patidar patriarch and veteran BJP leader, Ex CM Keshubhai Patel’s stars were on the wane against the Modi surge.
It would be preposterous to think that a political leader of such experience does not weigh in on the consequences of not being visible when a tragedy of such magnitude has struck his voters, but it certainly portrays a negative image of the leader.
Also Read: Rajkot Gaming Zone Was ‘Unauthorised’, Didn’t Have Fire NOC Too
