Gujarat BJP Veteran Sounds Alarm Over ‘Sikandar’ Culture in Gujarat

Surat, Gujarat — Even as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) basks in the glow of a historic 156-seat victory in the 2022 Gujarat Assembly elections and maintains an iron grip over all eight municipal corporations, a jarring note of dissent has emerged from within its senior ranks. Former minister and veteran BJP leader Nanubhai Vanani has raised a stark “red flag” against the party’s current trajectory, penning a scathing letter that questions the very ethos of power acquisition and its long-term implications.

Vanani’s candid outpouring challenges the evolving culture within the saffron party. “For some time now, a culture has been developing in the BJP that if a Sikandar (Alexander, meaning winner) wins, then what kind of Sikandar is he, where did he come from, what is his ideology? What is his morality?” Vanani lamented in his letter. He powerfully asserted, “Does he have any connection with the BJP or not? I feel that the recruitment started without seeing anything and closing his eyes is destroying the original ideological principle and essence of the BJP.” This hard-hitting critique points to a growing concern among some old-guard members that the party’s core values are being sacrificed at the altar of electoral success, with little regard for the “damage such Sikandars cause to the state and the party.”

The ‘Jo Jeeta Wahi Sikandar’ Conundrum

Vanani, a former Education Minister, directly confronted the “Jo Jeeta Wahi Sikandar” mentality. He articulated, “Today the entire culture of the Bharatiya Janata Party has changed. Now the situation has become such that ‘Jo Jeeta Wahi Sikander’… But where have these Sikanders come from? What is their ideology? What are their morals? No one is worrying about that.” His concern extends to their loyalty and connection to the BJP’s foundational principles, stating that “Without looking at that, recruitment has been started with eyes closed. This is destroying the ideological essence of the Bharatiya Janata Party. It is unimaginable how much damage the Bharatiya Janata Party can suffer due to these ‘Sikanders’.”

Power Versus Principle: A Suicidal Path?

The veteran leader warned against the perils of a power-centric approach. “Keeping power at the center for any party proves suicidal,” Vanani asserted, directly challenging the prevailing strategy. For him, “Power should not be at the expense of principle. Power is real only when you gain power by keeping principle at the center.” He cautioned that deviating from this path—attempting to gain power “by leaving aside the ‘whatever you do’ principle”—will inevitably harm both the party and the state.

Drawing on history, Vanani recalled the popular mandate of 1995 when Gujarat elected the BJP to power to “change the principle” from the then-ruling Congress. He issued a grim prophecy: “If BJP goes on the same path, then after 30 years, the people of Gujarat will feel that we have been cheated.”

Recruitment Fair Fuels Discontent Among Loyalists

Vanani expressed profound displeasure over what he termed the “recruitment fair” within the BJP, particularly after the 2017 assembly elections. He highlighted the “atmosphere of confusion” that arose for “dedicated and sincere original BJP workers.” Despite claims of unparalleled organizational strength down to the booth level, he observed a contradictory “internal fear” leading the party to initiate a “big recruitment fair without policy.” This move, he argued, left loyal workers “addicted and mentally dormant from the party’s work,” finding the developments “not only unimaginable… but also shocking.”

2022 Victory: A Beneficiary of Anti-Incumbency Division?

Perhaps most controversially, Vanani offered an alternative interpretation of the BJP’s colossal 2022 victory. He noted that despite a “three-pronged strong election battle,” voting was “six percent less than the two-pronged election battle of 2017.” He attributed the historic seat count not solely to BJP’s strength but to “an unimaginable division of anti-BJP votes” in a three-cornered contest, suggesting the BJP “directly benefited from it, and the BJP automatically got a historic number of seats.” In a provocative statement, he questioned, “Shouldn’t the BJP thank the Aam Aadmi Party for such a grand result that it got automatically?” This implies that the AAP’s entry fragmented the opposition vote, inadvertently boosting the BJP’s tally.

Vanani concluded with a philosophical reflection, drawing an analogy from Lord Macaulay’s warning about destroying a nation’s culture to destroy the nation itself. “It is a fact that the principle that applies to the nation also applies to the BJP,” he wrote, citing the decline of the Congress due to its “destroyed Gandhian culture” as a cautionary tale. He posited that Gujarat has become “politically powerless due to Narendrabhai,” otherwise, “nothing can change today” given the current political climate.

Who is Nanubhai Vanani?

Nanubhai Vanani is a seasoned BJP leader with a long history in Gujarat politics. He served as an MLA, first from Surat North (2007) and then Katargam (2012). He has also held organizational roles as city general secretary in the BJP and was president of the Diamond Association of Surat. His critical letter sends a clear message that even overwhelming victories can mask underlying ideological strains within a dominant political force.