Skip to main content

Ex-BJP minister Jaynarayan Vyas' defeat in Gujarat assembly elections is the "defeat of development"... and of Sidhpur

Courtesy: Facebook timeline of Kamal Khokhani
Counterview Desk
Reproduced below is Facebook post by Kamal Khokhani, managing director, Akar Sakarr, into the business of infomedia and publications, on the defeat of Jay Narayan Vyas, former senior BJP minister, who has shuttled from between a rebel and a Modi protégé. Vyas’s defeat by nearly 17,000 votes acquires significance, as he is no saffron background to his credit, and is known to be one of the best intellectuals in the BJP has, who can talk incisively on economic and developmental issues…
It is not YOUR defeat, it's the defeat of Sidhpur and the defeat of it's development...
Perhaps, voters of Sidhpur have not heard this phrase or, they have heard it but they don't want to take any cognizance of it...
This is the hard (and a bit bitter) statement, which came to my mind, the moment I heard about the defeat of Dr Jay Narayan Vyas from Sidhpur constituency , yesterday. It came out of sheer anguish... Let me explain, why I made this tough statement...
I went to Sidhpur for the first time in 1990, when Jay Narayan bhai was fighting his first assembly election from Sidhpur. It was, in those days, a dusty town, without basic amenities like education, infrastructure, recreational, healthcare and so on. In short, it was a 'large village', that's all! If we talk about the villages of the constituency, situation was worst. There was no road connectivity. Almost 90 percent villages were unapproachable in monsoon! Facilities like healthcare, education, water supply etc were almost distant dreams in these villages! I still remember seeing Jay Narayanbhai covered with dust all over, at the end of each campaign day, thanks to the absence of pucca roads!
After he got elected for the first time in 1990, he has left no stone unturned for 'transformation' of this constituency in last about 27 years, despite the fact that he lost two terms, in between. He concentrated on development of the area with a missionary zeal...
As you might have observed, I have used the word 'transformation' in earlier para deliberately, instead of merely 'development' or the much debated word - 'vikas'...
Because, when I visited Sidhpur for 2017 election almost after 27 years, I was simply amazed to see the transformation of this once dusty town!
I could see railway overbridge, flyover under construction, drinking water supply, drainage facility, cancer hospital, eye hospital, dialysis centre, dental hospital, state of the art civil hospital, homeopathy and ayurveda treatment facilities, dental college, nursing college, hotel management institute, Bindu Sarovar makeover, Shri Sthal Museum, modern library, renovated Vateshwar Mahadev Temple, Sidharth Mahadev, Goga Bapji Temple, Sainth Temple, Gayatri Temple, number of bore wells, number of health centres, town hall, sports complex and so on. Mind well, these are only a few landmarks! There are innumerable works he has done, which in totality, have transformed Sidhpur Constituency...
With this very loooooong list of development works, according to me, he was bound to be the unquestioned and consensus winner in 2017 election, to represent Sidhpur in Gujarat Assembly. I could see any number of villagers, assuring him of his victory!
But the results turned out to be disgusting and disappointing. Dr. Jay Narayan Vyas, despite all his untiring and relentless efforts for development, got defeated in this election!
Unfortunately, Sidhpur has given brickbats to their true representative, instead of bouquets...
I am now confused, whether those villagers were just doing lip service or creating window dressing or the worst, creating an illusion and thereby misleading their own representative???
While thinking further, I am convinced that the voters of Sidhpur have perhaps not heard the phrase - Attitude for Gratitude...Because, they easily forgot what he has done for them and their generations, while casting their votes...
Having closely worked with him for more than 35 years, I am pained to think about the pains of this man, who has mentored me all these years, but more importantly, has nurtured this area for almost four decades...
Having accepted and seen the stark realities of life, I would only like to say that...
Dr. Vyas is NOT defeated - it is Sidhpur, which is defeated... Dr. Vyas has not lost anything but Sidhpur has lost soooooo much...
Only time will tell, what Sidhpur has lost... Only time will make their generations realise the blunder the voters have made on 14th December by defeating the man, who is true 'son of the soil' from Sidhpur...
While concluding my thoughts - my anguish, I remember Joseph-Marie, comte de Maistre, the Savoyard lawyer, diplomat, writer, and philosopher and his famous quote - "Toute nation a le gouvernement qu'elle mérite" which means, 'Every nation gets the government it deserves'...
I believe, Sidhpur has got someone, whom they deserve and CERTAINLY not a statesman like Dr Jay Narayan Vyas...
Let me mention here once again, even at the cost of repeatation, that Dr Jay Narayan Vyas is civil engineer with a degree in law and post graduate degree in marketing management. He is a technocrat, management expert, project consultant, scholar, analyst, economist, academician, administrator, public life functionary and a politician -- all bundled into one towering persona... He has served as cabinet minister of Gujarat in various important departments like Food & Civil Supplies, Narmada Project, Health & Family Welfare. He is one of the most articulate spokespersons of BJP!!!
Despite all these credentials and untiring work for his constituency, Sidhpur, for more than four decades, he lost in the Assembly Elections!
It is the defeat of Sidhpur!
It is the defeat of development!!
May God bless Sidhpur and the people of this thankless city, I must say...
(My sincere apologies to anyone, who might felt hurt by this mail but I thought, I must voice my anguish - my pain).

Comments

TRENDING

Modi govt distancing from Adanis? MoEFCC 'defers' 1500 MW project in Western Ghats

By Rajiv Shah  Is the Narendra Modi government, in its third but  what would appear to be a weaker avatar, seeking to show that it would keep a distance, albeit temporarily, from its most favorite business house, the Adanis? It would seem so if the latest move of the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC) latest to "defer" the Adani Energy’s application for 1500 MW Warasgaon-Warangi Pump Storage Project is any indication.

India’s climate tech ecosystem in dire need of both early, growth-stage funding: Report

By Our Representative India’s climate tech ecosystem, which boasts over 800 startups, is in dire need of both early and growth-stage funding to leverage its full potential, according to a report by Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad (Ventures) and MUFG Bank , Japan. Despite a robust initial funding landscape, with approximately two-thirds of climate tech startups receiving seed capital, growth-stage investments remain critically lacking. 

'Flawed' argument: Gandhi had minimal role, naval mutinies alone led to Independence

Counterview Desk Reacting to a Counterview  story , "Rewiring history? Bose, not Gandhi, was real Father of Nation: British PM Attlee 'cited'" (January 26, 2016), an avid reader has forwarded  reaction  in the form of a  link , which carries the article "Did Atlee say Gandhi had minimal role in Independence? #FactCheck", published in the site satyagrahis.in. The satyagraha.in article seeks to debunk the view, reported in the Counterview story, taken by retired army officer GD Bakshi in his book, “Bose: An Indian Samurai”, which claims that Gandhiji had a minimal role to play in India's freedom struggle, and that it was Netaji who played the crucial role. We reproduce the satyagraha.in article here. Text: Nowadays it is said by many MK Gandhi critics that Clement Atlee made a statement in which he said Gandhi has ‘minimal’ role in India's independence and gave credit to naval mutinies and with this statement, they concluded the whole freedom struggle.

Bayer's business model: 'Monopoly control over chemicals, seeds'

By Bharat Dogra*  The Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO) has rendered a great public service by very recently publishing a report titled ‘Bayer’s Toxic Trails’ which reveals how the German agrochemical giant Bayer has been lobbying hard to promote glyphosate and GMOs, or trying to “capture public policy to pursue its private interests.” This report, written by Joao Camargo and Hans Van Scharen, follows Bayer’s toxic trail as “it maintains monopolistic control of the seed and pesticides markets, fights off regulatory challenges to its toxic products, tries to limit legal liability, and exercises political influence.” 

105,000 sign protest petition, allege Nestlé’s 'double standard' over added sugar in baby food

By Kritischer Konsum*    105,000 people have signed a petition calling on Nestlé to stop adding sugar to its baby food products marketed in lower-income countries. It was handed over today at the multinational’s headquarters in Vevey, where the NGOs Public Eye, IBFAN and EKO dumped the symbolic equivalent of 10 million sugar cubes, representing the added sugar consumed each day by babies fed with Cerelac cereals. In Switzerland, such products are sold with no added sugar. The leading baby food corporation must put an end to this harmful double standard.

UNEP report on how climate crisis is impacting displacement, global conflicts, declining health

By Shankar Sharma*  A recent report by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), titled "A Global Foresight Report on Planetary Health and Human Wellbeing," warrants urgent attention from our country’s developmental perspective. The findings, detailed in the report, should be a source of significant concern not only globally but especially for our nation, which has a vast population and limited natural resources. 

Swami Vivekananda's views on caste and sexuality were 'painfully' regressive

By Bhaskar Sur* Swami Vivekananda now belongs more to the modern Hindu mythology than reality. It makes a daunting job to discover the real human being who knew unemployment, humiliation of losing a teaching job for 'incompetence', longed in vain for the bliss of a happy conjugal life only to suffer the consequent frustration.

Militants, with ten times number of arms compared to those in J&K, 'roaming freely' in Manipur

By Sandeep Pandey*  The violence which shows no sign of abating in the ongoing Meitei-Kuki conflict in Manipur is a matter of concern. The alienation of the two communities and hatred generated for each other is unprecedented. The Meiteis cannot leave Manipur by road because the next district North on the way to Kohima in Nagaland is Kangpokpi, a Kuki dominated area where the young Kuki men and women are guarding the district borders and would not let any Meitei pass through the national highway. 

75 years of revolution: How China moved away from ideals of struggle for human liberation

By Harsh Thakor*  On October 1st, we celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Chinese Revolution, a pivotal moment in the struggle for human liberation. From 1949 to 1976, China achieved remarkable social equality and revolutionary democracy, outpacing other developing nations in literacy, health care, agricultural output, and industrial production.