Gandhinagar: WILL ”Baburao Apte ” yield before ”Chanakya” in the Ahmedabad (east) Lok Sabha constituency? Speculation is rife that popular film star Paresh Raval, who was elected to the Lok Sabha from Ahmedabad (east) in 2014, is likely to be replaced by another TV and film star of Gujarati origin, Manoj Joshi.
Raval had made the character of Baburao Ganpatrao Apte memorable in the film” Hera Pheri”. Likewise, Manoj Joshi, who has carved out a niche for himself in the world of theatre, TV serials and films, is known for his performance as Chanakya. A search is also on for a filmy face to contest from a north Gujarat constituency.
A high level meeting of the BJP, which is vetting candidates for the 26 seats from Gujarat, has drawn attention to the resistance from cadres to Raval’s name. When the same was unofficially communicated to the film star, he himself announced that he would not be in the fray. Joshi, on the other hand, is in the good books of the ruling party. However, Joshi’s name is facing stiff competition from CK Patel, an NRI businessman.
Patel, officially one of Gujarat’s richest politicians, is considered to be close to Narendra Modi from the time he was little known in politics even in Gujarat. CK Patel had contested the 2007 Gujarat Vidhan Sabha elections on a Congress ticket. He was then the richest amongst politicians with assets worth Rs 2.21 billion. In 2008 he had joined the BJP.
The deep pocket NRI owns a plethora of commercial properties in the US, including a Hilton hotel resort. Raval was handpicked by Modi in 2014 to replace Harin Pathak, a seven time member of Parliament who was a confidante of BJP veteran LK Advani. But now Advani has himself been replaced.
Not exactly popular with his constituents for his standoffish behaviour, Raval fell out with the local rank and file when he criticized the grass-root leadership for letting down the Prime Minister. The richest candidate from Gujarat in 2014 with assets worth Rs 79.40 crores, Raval hails from Paliyad, a village near Gandhinagar. The state leadership has been warned that if Raval is repeated, there is every chance of the party losing the seat.
