Lok Sabha MP C R Patil takes over as Gujarat BJP chief

Ahmedabad: BJP Lok Sabha member Chandrakant Raghunath Patil on Tuesday took charge as Gujarat party unit president and urged BJP workers to facilitate the reach of central schemes to people across the state.

Patil, 65, the Lok Sabha member from Navsari seat in Gujarat, also stressed on the use of technology to strengthen the party.

Incidentally, he shares his name with Maharashtra BJP chief Chandrakant Patil.

The Lok Sabha member assumed the charge at the BJP headquarters in Gandhinagar in the presence of outgoing state party president Jitu Vaghani, Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani and other dignitaries.

On the occasion, Rupani exuded confidence that the BJP will form a government for a record seventh time in 2022 when the party will fight the state Assembly polls under Paatil.આદરણીય વડાપ્રધાન શ્રી @narendramodi સાહેબ, કેન્દ્રીય ગૃહમંત્રી માનનીય શ્રી @AmitShah સાહેબ, બીજેપીનાં રાષ્ટ્રીય અધ્યક્ષ માનનીય શ્રી @JPNadda સાહેબ, સંગઠન મહામંત્રી માનનીય શ્રી @v_shrivsatish જીનો ખૂબ ખૂબ આભારી છું pic.twitter.com/Mqvq3jotZC

Addressing the BJP leaders, Patil stressed on the use of technology and social media to strengthen the party.

"It is Prime Minister Narendra Modi who made all of us tech-savvy. He used to remind us if we had opened Facebook accounts or not. He started this 10 years back. Now, we will take it further. We will use technology and go beyond posting something on Twitter or Facebook," he said.

He also urged BJP workers to facilitate the reach of central schemes to people in the state and create a long-lasting "positive impression" in their minds about the party.

"Out of around 400 schemes that Modiji has launched so far, we can directly help people through 60 such central schemes. We can create a long-lasting positive impression into their minds. We will work in that direction," said the three-time MP from Navsari seat.

He said "unlike Congress workers", the BJP workers are on the ground to help people affected by a coronavirus.

Modi's "timely decision to impose a lockdown" helped in containing the virus, he claimed.

Referring to protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) at Shaheen Bagh in Delhi earlier this year, Patil said though the protest had the "backing of Congress", it created a negative impression about the BJP.

"The Congress was behind Shaheen Bagh (anti-CAA protest). Rahul Gandhi also gave statements," he alleged.

"But, just think for a moment. Such statements created a negative impression about us among the masses," he said.

"Those who were forced to take another route and travel three to four km more due to the protest at Shaheen Bagh would blame the government, not Congress, for that trouble.

People will have a feeling that the government was not doing anything or did not use force to clear the area," he said.