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

Urgent need to study cause of large number of natural deaths in Gulf countries

By Venkatesh Nayak* According to data tabled in Parliament in April 2018, there are 87.76 lakh (8.77 million) Indians in six Gulf countries, namely Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). While replying to an Unstarred Question (#6091) raised in the Lok Sabha, the Union Minister of State for External Affairs said, during the first half of this financial year alone (between April-September 2018), blue-collared Indian workers in these countries had remitted USD 33.47 Billion back home. Not much is known about the human cost of such earnings which swell up the country’s forex reserves quietly. My recent RTI intervention and research of proceedings in Parliament has revealed that between 2012 and mid-2018 more than 24,570 Indian Workers died in these Gulf countries. This works out to an average of more than 10 deaths per day. For every US$ 1 Billion they remitted to India during the same period there were at least 117 deaths of Indian Workers in Gulf ...

A comrade in culture and controversy: Yao Wenyuan’s revolutionary legacy

By Harsh Thakor*  This year marks two important anniversaries in Chinese revolutionary history—the 20th death anniversary of Yao Wenyuan, and the 50th anniversary of his seminal essay "On the Social Basis of the Lin Biao Anti-Party Clique". These milestones invite reflection on the man whose pen ignited the first sparks of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution and whose sharp ideological interventions left an indelible imprint on the political and cultural landscape of socialist China.

India's health workers have no legal right for their protection, regrets NGO network

Counterview Desk In a letter to Union labour and employment minister Santosh Gangwar, the civil rights group Occupational and Environmental Health Network of India (OEHNI), writing against the backdrop of strike by Bhabha hospital heath care workers, has insisted that they should be given “clear legal right for their protection”.

Uttarakhand tunnel disaster: 'Question mark' on rescue plan, appraisal, construction

By Bhim Singh Rawat*  As many as 40 workers were trapped inside Barkot-Silkyara tunnel in Uttarkashi after a portion of the 4.5 km long, supposedly completed portion of the tunnel, collapsed early morning on Sunday, Nov 12, 2023. The incident has once again raised several questions over negligence in planning, appraisal and construction, absence of emergency rescue plan, violations of labour laws and environmental norms resulting in this avoidable accident.

History, culture and literature of Fatehpur, UP, from where Maulana Hasrat Mohani hailed

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat*  Maulana Hasrat Mohani was a member of the Constituent Assembly and an extremely important leader of our freedom movement. Born in Unnao district of Uttar Pradesh, Hasrat Mohani's relationship with nearby district of Fatehpur is interesting and not explored much by biographers and historians. Dr Mohammad Ismail Azad Fatehpuri has written a book on Maulana Hasrat Mohani and Fatehpur. The book is in Urdu.  He has just come out with another important book, 'Hindi kee Pratham Rachna: Chandayan' authored by Mulla Daud Dalmai.' During my recent visit to Fatehpur town, I had an opportunity to meet Dr Mohammad Ismail Azad Fatehpuri and recorded a conversation with him on issues of history, culture and literature of Fatehpur. Sharing this conversation here with you. Kindly click this link. --- *Human rights defender. Facebook https://www.facebook.com/vbrawat , X @freetohumanity, Skype @vbrawat

Job opportunities decreasing, wages remain low: Delhi construction workers' plight

By Bharat Dogra*   It was about 32 years back that a hut colony in posh Prashant Vihar area of Delhi was demolished. It was after a great struggle that the people evicted from here could get alternative plots that were not too far away from their earlier colony. Nirmana, an organization of construction workers, played an important role in helping the evicted people to get this alternative land. At that time it was a big relief to get this alternative land, even though the plots given to them were very small ones of 10X8 feet size. The people worked hard to construct new houses, often constructing two floors so that the family could be accommodated in the small plots. However a recent visit revealed that people are rather disheartened now by a number of adverse factors. They have not been given the proper allotment papers yet. There is still no sewer system here. They have to use public toilets constructed some distance away which can sometimes be quite messy. There is still no...

Women's rights leaders told to negotiate with Muslimness, as India's donor agencies shun the word Muslim

By A Representative Former vice-president Hamid Ansari has sharply criticized donor agencies engaged in nongovernmental development work, saying that they seek to "help out" marginalizes communities with their funds, but shy away from naming Muslims as the target group, something, he insisted, needs to change. Speaking at a book release function in Delhi, he said, since large sections of Muslims are poor, they need political as also social outreach.

Warning bells for India: Tribal exploitation by powerful corporate interests may turn into international issue

By Ashok Shrimali* Warning bells are ringing for India. Even as news drops in from Odisha that Adivasi villages, one after another, are rejecting the top UK-based MNC Vedanta's plea for mining, a recent move by two senior scholars Felix Padel and Samarendra Das suggests the way tribals are being exploited in India by powerful international and national business interests may become an international issue. In fact, one has only to count days when things may be taken up at the United Nations level, with India being pushed to the corner. Padel, it may be recalled, is a major British authority on indigenous peoples across the world, with several scholarly books to his credit. 

Gujarat Bitcoin scam worth Rs 5,000 crore "linked" with BJP leaders: Need for Supreme Court monitored probe

By Shaktisinh Gohil* BJP hit a jackpot in the form of demonetisation, which it used as an alibi to convert black money into white in Gujarat. Even as party scrambles for answers of how the Ahmedabad District Cooperative Bank (ADCB), whose director is BJP president Amit Shah, received old currency worth Rs 745.58 crore in just five days, and how Rs 3118.51 crore was deposited in 11 district cooperative banks linked with Gujarat BJP leaders, a new mega Bitcoin scam, worth more than Rs 5,000 crore has been unraveled.