New BJP Chief Has Big Shoes to Fill

The party opts for an OBC face after prolonged haggling

- By Jumana Shah

IN 1998, WHEN THE BJP'S UNINTERRUPTED REIGN OVER GUJARAT began, 25-year-old Jagdish Panchal had joined the party's booth management team in Ahmedabad's Thakkarbapanagar assembly seat. A day after Dussehra 2025, all of 27 years later, he was elected unopposed as Gujarat's BJP president; the three-time MLA from Ahmedabad's Nikol was the only candidate. It's a two-year-long search that has finally ended with this articulate grassroots figure.

Outgoing president CR Paatil's first three-year term had concluded in 2022, but divergent opinions on a suitable replacement had delayed the succession. The hunt had resumed in full earnest last year after Paatil took over as the Union cabinet minister for water resources. “This was a rare instance of the party being unable to come to a consensus over a candidate. It had to be done urgently: urban local body polls are due soon,” says a source.