BJP top three leaders Narendra Modi, lK Advani and Rajnath Singh came together for the first time after Modi took over the rein of the saffron party’s campaign committee. The trio was in Gujarat’s mountain town Junagadh to attend former Union Minister for Tourism and Parliamentary Affairs in the then AB Vajpayee Government, Bhavnaben Chikhalia’s condolence meeting.
Against the expectations of everyone, especially media, the top brass of the BJP refrained from uttering a single word on political line. Though Modi reached Junagadh earlier, he waited for Advani and Rajnath to arrive in the town situated in the Saurashtra region. As the BJP chief and former Deputy Prime Minister reached, Modi accompanied them at the venue of the condolence meeting.
“Bhavnaben had an uncanny capacity of assimilating and disseminating BJP’s work culture. She had unending energy for the cause of the people. We lost powerful party colleague and a member of family,” said the CM.
While paying homage to Chikhalia, Advani said that Bhavnaben’s untimely demise is not only a big loss to the party but also to the nation’s politics. He recalled whenever he used to visit Somnath, Chikhalia used to join him right from the Keshod Airport in Junagadh.
Rajnath remembered her active participation on various issues in Parliament. “While there is an urgent need to have intellectual women leaders in today’s politics, she has passed away in such a challenging time,” Singh said.
The meeting was attended by top State leaders like Cabinet Minister Anandiben Patel, junior Ministers Vasuben Trivedi and Govind Patel, Gujarat BJP chief RC Faldu, senior BJP leader and former Minister Parsotam Rupala, Junagadh MlA Mahendra Mashru and a large number of people from various sections of the society.