BJP chief draws roadmap for assembly polls next year

Rajkot: BJP president C R Paatil prepared a roadmap for the assembly election slated to be held sometime next year, specifically after the state effected a change of leadership recently.
In Rajkot on a one-day visit on Saturday, Paatil also repeated the government’s commitment to withdraw the cases of Patidar agitators and held a meeting to this effect with Naresh Patel.
However, former chief minister and Rajkot MLA Vijay Rupani or his supporters were conspicuous in their absence in all these meetings.
Addressing media persons, Paatil said, “The government withdrew many cases of Patidar agitation and 78 cases are in the process of being withdrawn. The government is firm on its commitment given to the agitators.”
He, however, refused to give details of the blueprint for the assembly elections, but said, “We are not ready to allow any worker of Congress to join the BJP.”
Paatil has once again made it clear in Rajkot that non-vegeterian food item vendors will not be removed from the roads. Incidentally, Rajkot was the first municipal corporation to remove such carts, followed swiftly by many other civic bodies too.
“I have instructed the office bearers of all the civic bodies not to take coercive actions against non-veg carts on the roads. There is no provision in the law to ban them from selling non-veg food,” Paatil said, while talking to media persons.
In the afternoon, Paatil met trade and industrial leaders in a hotel, along with office bearers of all major associations of Rajkot including Rajkot chamber of commerce and industry (RCCI), Rajkot builder association, jems and jewellery association, imitation jewellery association, engineering association among many others, where he reassured them that the projects started by the Rupani government will not be hampered.
Besides a toy park and imitation park in Rajkot, industry leaders demanded being provided 5,000sqm land at 50 percent rate, instead of 3,000sqm after the new limit of MSME.
Paatil also suggested forming a committee under the umbrella of RCCI and taking up issues of all of the businessman at Gandhinagar level one by one. According to sources, during the meeting with industry bodies Paatil also asked Rajkot mayor Pradeep Dav to remove stray cows and dogs from the roads.
Paatil also paid a surprise visit at the residence of Khodaldham trust head, Naresh Patel, and termed the meeting as an exchange of greetings for the Gujarati new year. Khodaldham is the apex religious and social body of Kadva Patidar. After the meeting, Patel told the media, “We had no political talk during the meeting.”
“Khodaldham and Umiyadham both had appealed to the government to withdraw all the cases against the Patidar agitators. It’s good that the government is working on that,” he said while replying to a query on the move.
Paatil also took part in several marriage functions of BJP workers and addressed the party workers in afternoon before leaving the city.