Dropped, Gujarat govt's most industry-friendly face refuses to tweet congrats after new CM Rupani takes over

Modi, Saurabh Patel, Mukesh Ambani

In a surprise move, Saurabh Patel, long considered the most industry-friendly face of Gujarat powerdom, has failed to find place in the new Cabinet. There is no official explanation why Saurabh, who was in charge of three most important portfolios in the Cabinet minister, finance, industry and energy and petrochemicals in the Cabinet, was humbled.
While speculation is rife among well-informed circles in Gujarat that Saurabh was long “tipped” to be part of the Government of India, and stage had been set for it, those who met him at the swearing-in ceremony of Rupani and his ministerial colleagues on Sunday say he was “put off” and “disturbed.”
Saurabh's official Twitter handle, @saurabhpatelguj, shows that while he would tweet almost daily without fail about the “developmental” activities under the last Anandiben Patel government as also the Modi government at the centre on issues related with the departments he headed, the last time he did this was on August 5.
On August 5, Saurabh tweeted complimenting Rupani on being announced as the new chief minister. Not only did he refuse to put in any go on Twitter on August 6, even the on the day Rupani formally took over after taking oath, August 7, there was no tweet from Saurabh congratulating the new chief minister.
While those around him admit that he was "axed" because he has failed to build political base, others say, he is out of favour. According to a top political observer, with knowledge of goings-on in the power circles, Saurabh was “out of favour” of Anandiben Patel. On the other hand, he failed to establish any rapport rapport with all-India BJP president Amit Shah, who is said to have called the shots in the formation of the new Cabinet under Rupani.
A person without any saffron background, Saurabh is son-in-law of Ramniklal Ambani, brother of top tycoon late Dhirubhai Ambani, and maintains good relations with Mukesh Ambani, Reliance chairman. With no RSS background, he has not allowed himself to be coloured with the saffron ideology. Yet, his closeness to Modi, under whom he served in Gujarat government after 2002, was never in doubt.

The only minister in the previous Anandiben Patel government who could communicate with ease in English, he is known to be a key organizer of the biennial Vibrant Gujarat world business summits ever since 2003. He had unmatched understanding of finance, too, and was a key minister to have created an atmosphere of support for goods and services tax (GST) for Modi, sitting in Gandhinagar.
While he was expected to play a key role in the 2017 Vibrant Gujarat summit, scheduled for January 11-12, a senior official said, “He was found not so indispensable. When Modi would be here for the summit, the entire Government of India machinery would go out to make the summit a great success.”
No doubt, Modi would need him. In the 2012 Gujarat state assembly elections, Modi shifted him from Botad, his constituency, where he was on slippery grounds, to Vadodara, a safe BJP seat. Said a senior leader, “Anandiben Patel and Amit Shah may not like him, but Saurabh remains in good books of Modi, one reason why there is a view that he might be taken to the Centre.”
Many say, Saurabh appears to have been “axed” because of his overt ambitions. He began to see himself as the next chief ministerial, virtually ran a parallel administration in the three departments he held, finance, industry and energy and petrochemicals, something his boss, Anandiben Patel, never liked.
Operating under him, controversy began surrounding the Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation (GSPC), which has an accumulated debt of Rs 20,000 crore, with complete inability of the top PSU to deliver any gas from its KG Basin exploration; the announced 20 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of gas in KG, the largest ever by an Indian company, proved to be a hoax.
Soon after Anandiben Patel resigned on August 2, comments started appearing in influential sections of the media that Saurabh was the “fittest person” to become Gujarat's chief minister, and he never denied any of it. In fact, he was heard telling someone, he had the “capacity of doing which is work equal to a dozen bureaucrats.”
It is still not clear whether Saurabh, who played an important role in the empowered group of ministers of finance ministers in campaign for GST, would be "rescued" by Modi. “Rajya Sabha elections are a year away. So, he would have to wait to be shifted toDelhi”, commented a senior leader.

Comments

No to free thought? How Gujarat's private universities are cowing down their students

"Don't protest"—that's the message private universities across Gujarat seem to be conveying to their students. A senior professor told me that students at the university where he teaches are required to sign an undertaking promising not to engage in protests. "They simply sign the undertaking and hand it over to the university authorities," he said.

Beyond the Sattvik plate: Prof Anil Gupta's take on food, ethics, and sustainability

I was pleasantly surprised to receive a rather lengthy comment (I don't want to call it a rejoinder) on my blog post about the Sattvik Food Festival, held near the Sola Temple in Ahmedabad late last year. It came from no less a person than Anil Gupta, Professor Emeritus at the Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad (IIM-A), under whose guidance this annual event was held.

'Potentially lethal, carcinogenic': Global NGO questions India refusing to ban white asbestos

Associated with the Fight Inequality Alliance, a global movement that began in 2016 to "counter the concentration of power and wealth among a small elite", claiming to have members in the United Kingdom, South Africa, Kenya, Zambia, the Philippines, and Denmark, the advocacy group Confront Power appears all set to intensify its campaign against India as "the world’s largest asbestos importer".

In lieu of tribute to Pritish Nandy, said to be instrumental in collapse of Reliance-controlled daily

It is widely reported that Pritish Nandy , journalist, author, animal activist, and politician, has passed away. While it is customary to pay tributes to a departing soul—and I, too, have joined those who have posted heartfelt condolences on social media—I cannot forget the way he treated me when he was editor of the Reliance-controlled Business and Political Observer (BPO), for which I had been working informally in Moscow.

Shyam Benegal's Mathan a propaganda film that supported 'system'? No way

A few days ago, I watched Manthan, a Shyam Benegal movie released in 1976. If I remember correctly, the first time I saw this movie was with Safdar Hashmi, one of the rare young theater icons who was brutally murdered in January 1989. Back then, having completed an M.A. in English Literature from Delhi University in 1975, we would often move around together.

Sattvik Food Festival: Shouldn't one question notion of purity, cultural exclusion in food choices?

Recently, I visited the Sattvik Food Festival, an annual event in Ahmedabad organized by Anil Gupta, professor emeritus at the Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad (IIM-A). I have known Prof. Gupta since 1993, when I sought an appointment to meet him a few months after joining The Times of India in Ahmedabad—one reason why I have always been interested in the activities he is involved in.

A conman, a demolition man: How 'prominent' scribes are defending Pritish Nandy

How to defend Pritish Nandy? That’s the big question some of his so-called fans seem to ponder, especially amidst sharp criticism of his alleged insensitivity during his journalistic career. One such incident involved the theft and publication of the birth certificate of Masaba Gupta, daughter of actor Neena Gupta, in the Illustrated Weekly of India, which Nandy was editing at the time. He reportedly did this to uncover the identity of Masaba’s father.

To be or not to be Sattvik: Different communities' differing notions of purity and fasting

This is a continuation of my last blog on Sattvik food. When talking about Sattvik, there is a tendency to overlook what it may mean to different sections of people around the world. First, let me redefine Sattvik: it means having a "serene, balanced, and harmonious mind or attitude." Derived from the Sanskrit word sattva, it variously means "pure, essence, nature, vital, energy, clean, conscious, strong, courage, true, honest, and wise." How do people achieve this so-called purity? Among Gujarati Hindus, especially those from the so-called upper castes who are vegetarians, one common way is fasting. On fasting days, such as agiyarash —the 11th day of the lunar cycle in the Vedic calendar—my close relatives fast but consume milk, fruit juices, mangoes, grapes, bananas, almonds, pistachios, and potato-based foods, including fried items. Another significant fasting period is adhik maas. During this time, many of my relatives "fast" by eating only a single me...

Challenging patriarchy? Adopting maternal and marital surnames: Resistance continues

Anandiben Patel The other day, I was talking with a group of family friends. The discussion revolved around someone very close to me who had not changed her official name in documents, including her Aadhaar and passport, after her marriage. However, on social media and within her husband's family, she had adopted her husband's surname as a suffix to her own. I mentioned that there is a growing trend—though not yet widespread—where women prefer to retain their maiden names or add their maiden surnames alongside their husband's surname. Another emerging trend is where men choose to add their mother's name, or even their wife's name, to their own. This revelation surprised my family friends.

Search This Blog