BJP won’t tie-up with Congress in institutional elections: Paatil

Inaugurating the Milk Processing Plant of Baroda Dairy at Bodeli in Chhota Udepur, Paatil also spoke about the public spat between party leaders last month over the payment of dues to milk producers.

Gujarat BJP President CR Paatil Wednesday said the party would “never get into an alliance with the Congress” for elections to institutional posts, which the saffron party has begun “capturing from the grip” of the grand old party.

“In Gujarat, now we have captured seats in all the sugar cooperatives, all except one dairy, all district cooperative banks, all APMCs. I use the word capture because we have wrested it from those whose grip (panja) was stifling the development of these institutions,” he said. Paatil noted that after he took over as the BJP state executive president in July 2020, the party has won 55 of the 96 elections to cooperatives and public institutions.

Comparing the management of public institutions and cooperatives by BJP leaders to those of other parties, Paatil said, “When Janata Dal and Congress leaders were heading many cooperatives and institutions in the state, the decisions would never come by. So, the BJP decided that the party leaders will contest all institutional posts; it is fine even if we lose, we will not tie-up with the Congress.”

Inaugurating the Milk Processing Plant of Baroda Dairy at Bodeli in Chhota Udepur, Paatil also spoke about the public spat between party leaders last month over the payment of dues to milk producers. He urged the milk unions and dairy management to work together.

Paatil was instrumental in resolving the public spat between four Vadodara BJP MLAs and former Padra MLA Dinesh Patel over the issue of payments to milk producers.

Paatil also instantly apologised for his “slip of the tongue” for referring to Dinesh Patel as “natu mama” multiple times during his speech. “This is the third event I am attending with regards to milk producers. Earlier, there was a felicitation ceremony organised in Vadodara. Prior to that, there was another event (the meeting to resolve the spat). To fight for your rights, four of our elected MLAs led by Ketan Inamdar (Savli), Akshay Patel (Karjan), Shailesh Mehta (Dabhoi), and Madhu Shrivastav (Waghodia), along with Vadodara MP Ranjan Bhatt, came to me. Then we called one natu mama, I mean, Dinu Mama (Dinesh’s nickname)… I have never had a slip of the tongue like this but today the crowd seems to be intimidating me,” Paatil said laced with his trademark sarcasm.

The BJP leader went on to say that although Dinesh was the chairman of Baroda Dairy, the show was run by his deputy GB Solanki. He said that although he assumed that Dinesh and Solanki would seek time to pay the promised sum, they have already paid Rs 18 crore to the milk producers before Dussehra last week, and the rest of the amount would be deposited by March 31, 2022, as promised.

Urging the milk producers and the dairy management to work hand-in-hand, Paatil said, “Milk unions and dairies are like ears next to the forehead, you cannot separate it. (Prime Minister Narendra) Modiji says if Gujarat does not send milk to Delhi, Delhi will not get milk. Their tea is dependent on your milk. The same is the case with Goa as well.”
(EOM)

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