Jagdish Vishwakarma, an OBC leader, took over as the BJP’s Gujarat president. Vishwakarma, 52, said, “My identity is saffron and the lotus.” He expressed gratitude to the party for the trust it has placed in him.
CM Bhupendra Patel conveyed his best wishes to Vishwakarma and highlighted the effective use of technology under the outgoing state BJP chief. Patel noted that Vishwakarma is also tech savvy. “Whether in govt or the organization, every worker has tried to fulfil their responsibilities well,” Patel said. “That is why BJP has become a large entity.” C R Paatil, the outgoing Gujarat BJP president, said, “during my tenure, some workers may have suffered losses, some may have benefited, but my intention was not to harm anyone.” He said, “If any harm was done in the party’s interest, please forgive me.” Paatil added, “Today, as a worker, I stand with the newly appointed state president, Vishwakarma, and assure him that every BJP worker in Gujarat will walk in step with him.”
For his part, Vishwakarma emphasized that the responsibility of the state president is not his alone but belongs to all BJP workers. “Whether it’s a booth president or a district president, both are equal in my eyes,” Vishwakarma said. He called for tireless efforts to serve the people of the state through Team Gujarat BJP.
Vishwakarma praised the party’s top brass and workers. He said that the empowerment of the workers is key because they are BJP’s treasures. He invoked the legacy of Shyama Prasad Mukherjee, Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay, and Atal Bihari Vajpayee, and affirmed that BJP is synonymous with public trust, development, and new ideas. The programme was attended by state ministers, MPs, MLAs, state BJP officebearers, and others.