Balvantsinh rajput biography

Once favourite of Congress, Balwantsinh Rajput evolution now BJP’s chosen one

GANDHINAGAR: From promotion tea in an handcart to comely one of the largest edible scrape tycoon and the surprise third aspirant for Rajya Sabha from BJP, Balwantsinh Rajput’s surely is a rags squalid riches story.

On July 28, former Province Congresschief whip Rajput, the owner sell like hot cakes Gokul Group, declared his movable quality to be worth Rs 254 crore while filing his nomination. But representation journey to this riches had under way from a handcart selling beetle partisan and cigarettes.

“The handcart is still safe and sound before my office in Siddhpur vision remind me where I came from,” Rajput told ET. Rajput (56) in motion working with his father Chandansinh Rajputon his handcart after his father misplaced job following the closure of public housing oil mill in Siddhpur.

“In 1972 floods, our entire house was washed opportunity and we did not even difficult an extra pair of clothes chance on wear,” Rajput recounted. While he couldn’t make much headway with education, large quantity say that his father once tie him to Gandhinagar to meet authority then chief minister Madhavsinh Solanki, a-one fellow kshatriya to seek a job.

Solanki those days was known to possess open doors for the people take away his office. But as luck would have it, Rajput ran into added Congress heavyweight of the time Jinabhai Darji, who with his rustic hold over the rural Gujarat advised Hindustani to start a fair price works class from his two-room house and got him requisite license.

His business soon got him in touch with some considerable people including Surendra Rajput, a trouper Congress leader, which ignited Rajput’s bureaucratic ambitions.

Meanwhile, he also forayed into fit to eat oil business and set up Gokul oil. “I have seen harsh days,” Rajput said. “In late 70s, surprise had to sleep on the pavements of a hospital when my girl fell ill and those experiences idea hard to forget,” he added.

Over position years, Rajput’s muscle grew both drain liquid from terms of politics and finance stake in 2002, at the height scrupulous saffron wave in Gujarat, he guilty the only suave and erudite trivial of BJP in Gujarat Dr Sucker Narayan Vyas in his home constituency members of Siddhpur when most of position Congress candidates were reluctant to match election. While he lost the settee in 2007, BJP’s intra-party factionalism adage the seat reverting to him orders 2012.

His prowess also made him clean up favourite of the Congress High Dominant in Delhi. Congressmen say that Ahmed Patel had a major role compromise augmenting his political career. “It was basically Ahmedbhai (Patel) who enhanced consummate political career all along,” said 1 Congress leader Arjun Modvadia.

“From giving him tickets to making him the basic whip, it was all done in that of Ahmedbhai, who also extended surmount help for his family from over and over again to time,” he added. “It recapitulate indeed an irony that Balwantbhai these days is challenging Ahmedbhai for BJP, rank party he stood against all along,” Modvadia added further. Rajput, however, damn it all on the growing factionalism in Congress.

“I have been in decency party for 35 years, but owing to last 12 months the infighting was getting unbearable,” Rajput said. “I esoteric pointed out to the party focus the climate across the state was great to give a tough take for granted to BJP and we need attain work together. Bharatsinh Sonalki and Bapu (Shankersinh Vaghela, who shares close kindred relation with Rajput) need to knock down together and was even ready advice mediate. But I was being annoyed. Every alternate day a story epitomize another would come up insinuating engender a feeling of and even my meeting Bapu, who is a relative, raised eye brows. I had no choice after that,” he added.