| They are meticulous as well as aggressive in taking up people's issues and symbolise Gujarat's entrepreneurial spirit in the political arena.
Meet the young breed of Gujarat Vidhan Sabha, to be more precise of Gujarat's competitive electoral politics, who are going to lead the state in the years to come.
Consider Bharat Pandya, 38, who defeated the then chief minister Dilip Parikh in 1998 to storm into the electoral arena before emerging as a perfect people's representative from the BJP in the Vidhan Sabha as well as his constituency, Dhandhuka. Or meet Amit Chavda, 30, the young and energetic Congress MLA from Borsad whose studied interventions in the Vidhan Sabha debates have drawn positive notice.
Then there is Shankar Chaudhary, BJP MLA from Radhanpur and the youngest chairman of Banaskantha District Bank at 38 years who has emerged as a powerful ideological face of Narendra Modi's mix of Hindutva and development. On the other hand, Rajendrasinh Parmar, Congress MLA from Bhadran, has become the vice chairman of Amul Dairy at just 37 years of age.
Apart from these young turks, there are several others. Take for instance, Paresh Dhanani, the boyish-looking Congress MLA from Amreli who humbled Purshottam Rupala, the current state BJP chief as a 25-year-old thus earning the label of a giant killer.
Then there is Mansukh Mandalia, 34, the studious BJP MLA from Palitana who is literally the epitome of RSS ideology, simple and committed, yet firm in his beliefs.
The spirit of the young crop of tribal MLAs in the Vidhan Sabha is represented by Harshad Vasava, 37, BJP MLA from Rajpipla in whose constituency falls the Sardar Sarovar Project or the Narmada project. The bubbly Manish Giletwala, 34,Congress MLA from Surat and an industrialist manufacturing textile, might be the only non-graduate in the lot but when it comes to taking up the right issues aggressively, he creates ripples with his strong approach.
Some of the young politicians might be more active in their own constituencies rather than the Vidhan Sabha, while others might be better at debating in the House. But all the same, they have good records as MLAs. This is in sharp contrast to yesteryears when sluggish MLAs not only managed to get into the Vidhan Sabha but even got re-elected.
Take the case of Rajendrasinh Parmar or Amit Chavda, a chemical engineer from a reputed engineering institute and a cousin of Gujarat Congress chief Bharat Solanki, who represents neighbouring constituencies of Bhadran and Borsad in central Gujarat. Here the sea water from the Gulf of Khambhat has been causing salinity ingress through the channel of river Mahi which meets the Gulf soon after passing through these areas. Hundreds of acres of land have been lying uncultivated in the two areas while a significant number of the local and OBC constituents continue to be landless. The two young politicians have helped prevent salinity ingress, making untilled tracts productive, with a view of having them allotted to landless labourers.
The duo has also got a dyke sanctioned by the government which will be raised at the mouth of the Mahi where it meets the sea. This will prevent sea water from mixing with the sweet river water, thus curbing salinity. Says Chavda, who heads a trust that runs several schools in backward areas: "Apart from the salinity and land problem, my focus is on education. I am for knowledgebased education which would guarantee employment." Adds Parmar who has skillfully used his position in Amul Dairy to help members of his poor constituencies: "I want to see landless labourers turning into land owners and I will strive for it."
Shankar Chaudhary is creating waves in his constituency Radhanpur that borders Pakistan's Sindh province, thanks to his efforts on issues dealing with national security and organising micro-credit financing for self-help women's groups in Banaskantha district through the bank he heads, that does an annual business of Rs 700 crore.
He got together 4,000 such women's groups comprising 50,000 women in the district financed by the bank in what is one of the poorest regions of Gujarat. This has seen the living standards of poor families go up. But more importantly, a majority of these women have been repaying the micro loans without any default. Says the handsome Chaudhary:
"My aim is to banish poverty from not just my constituency but the entire district."
The change in Dhandhuka constituency's water scenario in the past nine years shows the legislative power of Bharat Pandya who matches Chaudhary in looks. The dynamic MLA known for his commitment to constituents and transparent image has led a most powerful water conservation movement in his water-scarce constituencythat has ensured
65 of the
total 98 villages in his constituency getting piped water supply against just a few till his advent.
Not just the water scenario, Dhandhuka has made changes in every sphere due to his continued efforts.
Pandya commands respect not just for his vision, but also because of his unstinted commitment to the people in his constituencies. For example in the severe floods that overwhelmed his constituency in 2005, he waded through knee-deep water and visited 54 villages personally, a truly Gandhian effort. Observes Pandya: "Nothing can make me more happy than the happiness of my people."
Paresh Dhanani may be the youngest of the lot, but is in no way lesser than the others of his ilk. His youthful enthusiasm is visible on his face as he grapples with Amreli's acute drinking water problem by pooling funds from both the state and the Centre. He has managed to pool in Rs 10 crore and almost half of it has already been spent, thus easing the water problem to some extent. But even today, certain areas of Amreli get drinking water once in 10 days. But a larger aim of Dhanani is to bring back to Amreli 4.5 lakh people from the district who are into the diamond polishing business in Surat and Mumbai. With the availability of power, this process has already begun. Says Dhanani: "It will prove to be a great boon for them.They will be able to do diamond polishing at home and simultaneously till their farmlands in the village."
If more and more girls in the educationally backward Palitana constituency are going to schools today and the incidence of female foeticide has come down in the area, then Mansukh Mandalia can take a good measure of credit for both. For Mandalia, a die-hard RSS worker and a veterinary doctor, has toiled hard by organising padyatras and holding awareness camps in Palitana on both these issues.
In the Vidhan Sabha, he speaks more on health and education. "As an MLA, my endeavour is to give maximum importance to education because education is the pathway to development," says Mandalia who attends RSS shakhas regularly even after becoming an MLA.
In Surat, the youthful Manish Giletwala is known as a fighting MLA who commands a massive following by virtue of being the additional chief of the Gujarat Congress's Seva Dal unit. He defeated an old hand, Gulabdas Khasi, a confidant of South Gujarat BJP strongman Kashiram Rana.
The work he did during the massive flood that hit Surat last year got him a name amongst his constituents, particularly after he agitated and made the administration relent on several public issues during the crisis.
Thanks to his aggressive tactics on people's issues, he also stalled the sale of an old Government hospital which was being closed and sold last year in the name of privatisation.
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