Vadodara:

When sitting MP Ranjan Bhatt unexpectedly quit the race despite being renominated by the BJP for the Vadodara Lok Sabha seat in Gujarat, Hemang Joshi was blissfully unaware of what was next what happens.

Mr. Joshi and his wife were attending a music program during the Holi festival when he received an influx of congratulatory calls. It was then that Mr Joshi came to know that the BJP had chosen him as its candidate from the Vadodara seat.

Joshi, 33, is the youngest candidate of the BJP in the state of Gujarat, which has elected 26 legislators.

Joshi said that considering Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s victory in 2014 from the erstwhile princely state of Vadodara and then vacating it for Varanasi, he He said he still has a lot of work to do.

The young BJP leader told news agency PTI in an interview that he was working towards winning with a margin of over 10 lakh votes, a target set by party president CR Paatil. All seats in the state will go to polls in the third phase on May 7.

“I never dreamed I would be able to get tickets. It was a big surprise to me,” he said.

Joshi said that while the winning margin target in other seats was 5 lakh votes, Patil maintained the margin at 10 lakh votes in Vadodara. Media platform Fox Story India has compiled a list of 40 young leaders in India under the age of 40.

Mr Bhatt won the Vadodara elections in 2014 after Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave up his seat. She won from here in 2019 and was on her way to a third term, but a rebellion within the local party dashed her hopes. Last month, she announced her unwillingness to go to the polls.

A day later, former student leader Joshi was appointed to the role.

“Until my name was officially announced, I didn’t even get a call saying I was being considered as the party’s candidate. My wife and I are both working people and we rarely have time to go out together. We were out attending an event when When my name was announced, he performed a musical program at Sursagar Lake during Holi after prayers,” he recalled.

But once his name was officially announced, he received multiple calls from state and national leaders of the party offering their support.

“To give people like me the opportunity to run in such a momentous election and to have all kinds of support for that is overwhelming to me,” he said.

Joshi said he is also counting on the support of young voters in the district.

“This district has emerged as the education capital of Gujarat. We have MS University, Central University, Sports University, Gati Shakti University and several premier educational institutions with over 2 lakh students. 30-35% of voters here are young people Who we’re trying to tap into,” he said.

He said he represented the Modi government’s efforts to mobilize the country’s young population and make India a developed country by 2047.

Joshi pointed out that when Prime Minister Modi launched the “sankalp patra” (manifesto), he said it reflected the aspirations and expectations of the youth of the country.

“The sankalp patra has many points that will touch us even a century later. Among the four key points – Garib, Yuva, Annadata and Nari (GYAN) – Yuva (youth) plays an important role. Prime Minister Modi said a lot that we aspire to It’s up to the young people to achieve what they want,” he said.

Asked whether the winning margin target of 10 lakh votes was ambitious, Joshi said Vadodara has traditionally been a BJP stronghold.

“People across class and caste lines love the BJP. Karmabhoomi, who also served as Prime Minister Modi in Vadodara. So here we don’t need to campaign for the party but to relive and revitalize the people Existing ties with the party,” he said.

Mr. Joshi is the Vice Chairman of the Board of Municipal Primary Schools, a former General Secretary of the Students Union of Maharaja Sayajirao University, and a member of the RSS student organization Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad.

He said he has completed a leadership education course from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad and is currently pursuing a PhD in leadership. His wife is an assistant professor at a medical school.

“When Prime Minister Modi said that he is a Pradhan Sevak and not a Pradhan Mantri, it suddenly dawned on me that the primary role of a leader is to serve and not to lead. I am pursuing a PhD in ‘Servant Leadership’ and the main focus is on leadership The leader is to serve rather than lead,” he said.

The BJP has not lost a Lok Sabha election in Vadodara since 1998. Since 1991, the constituency has elected three women MPs.

Mr Joshi is contesting against Congress MP Jaspalsinh Padhiyar, a former MP from Padra.

“The people of Vadodara cannot accept the Congress mentality. The party committed ‘praja droh’ when they rejected Ram Mandir’s invitation,” he said.

Joshi described sitting MP Butt as a very cultured party worker and said she would continue to mentor him.

Regarding intra-party friction, he said emotions can sometimes make people impulsive.

“But this is a Narendra Modi election. People are not voting for Hemang Joshi, they are voting for Narendra Modi for a third term,” Mr. Joshi added.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)