Who is Thaawarchand Gehlot? There is talk of becoming a candidate for Vice President
Thaawarchand Gehlot met PM Modi last week
Last Friday, Karnataka Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi. The very next day he also met Defense Minister Rajnath Singh. Officially, these meetings were described as a ‘courtesy call’, but after these meetings, the discussion of making him the candidate for the post of Vice President has gained momentum again. Even a few months back, there has been speculation that the BJP may field him as the Vice Presidential candidate in place of M Venkaiah Naidu. Behind these political speculations, there are some special coincidences after his meeting with the PM.
Gehlot progressed whenever he met PM Modi!
It is being said that once he had met the Prime Minister in a similar way, he was given a place in the Union Cabinet. In another time he was made the Leader of the House in the Rajya Sabha. Once he got a chance to meet PM Modi, he reached the Raj Bhavan in Karnataka as the governor. Meaning that he has never returned empty after meeting PM Modi, so this meeting of his can also give further expansion to his career, its full possibility is being told. BJP sources have earlier also said that Gehlot could be a possible candidate for the post of Vice President. The term of President Ram Nath Kovind is ending in July, 2022. Whereas, the term of the current Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu is also ending after a month i.e. in August 2022.
Who is Thaawarchand Gehlot?
Karnataka Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot has been an influential Dalit face of the Bharatiya Janata Party. He turned 74 only last month. Gehlot, who hails from Ujjain district of Madhya Pradesh, has a long association with the Bharatiya Janata Party. He has represented the party from the old Shajapur Lok Sabha seat for four consecutive terms i.e. 1996, 1998, 1999 and 2004. He comes from the Scheduled Caste Balai community, who are traditionally weavers. If we look at this, then apart from MP, people of Balai community also live in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Chhattisgarh and Delhi. Gehlot has also represented the BJP in the Rajya Sabha twice and has been made the leader of the party’s House, a post he has held till July 2021.
Why Gehlot might be the choice for the Vice President?
Thawarchand Gehlot has been the Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment in both the terms of Narendra Modi before becoming the Governor of Karnataka in July 2021. If we talk about before the politics of the Center, Gehlot was first elected MLA from Alot seat of Madhya Pradesh in 1980. While being an MLA from the same seat, he also became a cabinet minister in the Sunderlal Patwa government. Given the strength of the Bharatiya Janata Party in Parliament, if the party makes him a candidate, it is entirely possible for him to be elected as the Vice-President. Doing so for BJP could be a positive message for Dalit and OBC voters across the country ahead of the 2024 elections.
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Gehlot can also get support of other parties
BJP strategists have been of the view that after fielding a Dalit candidate, it will be difficult for other parties to oppose him. However, when BJP made Kovind its presidential candidate as a Dalit leader, Congress also ran the Dalit and women card by fielding Meira Kumar, but Kovind won with a margin of 31% votes. But, Gehlot’s position is a bit different. He has been in active politics for about 41 years. He also has his personal contacts with the leaders of each party. His personal image has also been that of taking everyone along. But, the biggest question is PM Modi’s 75-year formula. According to that, Thawarchand Gehlot has only one more year left, because he has turned 74 only last month.
