Jagdish Thakor (born 1 July 1957) is an

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party, or simply the Congress, is a political parties in India, political party in India with deep roots in most regions of India. Founded on 28 December 1885, it was the first mo ...

politician from

Gujarat Gujarat () is a States of India, state along the Western India, western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the List of states and union territories ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. He was the

member Member may refer to: * Military jury, referred to as "Members" in military jargon * Element (mathematics), an object that belongs to a mathematical set * In object-oriented programming, a member of a class ** Field (computer science), entries in ...

15th Lok Sabha Members of the 15th Lok Sabha were elected during the 2009 general election in India. It was dissolved on 18 May 2014 by President Pranab Mukherjee.Indian National Congress-led United Progressive Alliance won 44 more seats than the previous 14t ...

of India. He represented the Patan constituency of

Thakor The Thakor Koli, or Thakarda Koli, is a subcaste of the Koli caste of Gujarat. Koli people form the largest caste-cluster in Gujarat, comprising 24 per cent of the total population of the state. Koli Thakors in Gujarat are classified as Other ...

belongs to the

Koli Koli may refer to: People * Koli people, Indian caste group * Koli Christians, a Christian subgroup * Muslim Kolis, Muslim community * Koli (surname), Indian surname * Koli Sewabu (born 1975), Fijian rugby union footballer Places * Koli, Fin ...

community of Gujarat.

Political career

Thakor began his political career as a student leader in 1973 and won his first Assembly election in 2002.

Member of Legislative Assembly (2002-2012)

He was elected as MLA from Dahegam in 2002 and 2007. Between 2007 and 2008 he was the Chief Whip, Congress, Gujarat Legislative Assembly.

Member of Parliament (2009-2014)

He was MP in the 15th Lok Sabha from Patan Lok Sabha constituency between 2009 and 2014, and lost his seat in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. On 3 December 2021, Thakor was appointed

Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee The Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC) is the state unit of the Indian National Congress in Gujarat. It is responsible for organizing and coordinating the party's activities and campaigns within the state, as well as selecting candidates ...

president.

2022 Gujarat Legislative Assembly Election

In December 2021, the Indian National Congress held a mock assembly in Rajkot, to highlight the plight of the youth for jobs. Thakor slammed the government saying "In Gujarat, 11 question papers were leaked. 25 lakh youth applied for government jobs. Despite having lost confidence in the government, 10 to 12 lakh of them are still applying for jobs and those eligible are not getting them." He also added that jobs were not going to the average youth, and that the government was giving jobs to BJP functionaries. In April 2022, Jignesh Mevani, Gujarat Congress MLA from Vadgam was arrested by Assam Police in

Palanpur Palanpur (Gujarati language, Gujarati: ) is a city and a headquarters of Banaskantha district in the Indian state of Gujarat. Palanpur is the ancestral home to an industry of Indian diamond merchants. Etymology Palanpur in early times is said ...

, Jagdish Thakor hit out at the BJP, saying that he was arrested for tweeting against the

Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS,, ) is an Indian right-wing politics, right-wing, Hindutva, Hindu nationalist volunteer paramilitary organisation. It is the progenitor and leader of a large body of organisations called the Sangh Parivar ( ...

, a Hindu-nationalist parent organization of the BJP. In July 2022, Thakor along with several Gujarat Congress leaders workers staged a sit-in in Lal Darwaja,

Ahmedabad Ahmedabad ( ), also spelled Amdavad (), is the most populous city in the Indian state of Gujarat. It is the administrative headquarters of the Ahmedabad district and the seat of the Gujarat High Court. Ahmedabad's population of 5,570,585 ...

for 2 hours to protest against the summoning of

Sonia Gandhi Sonia Gandhi (, ; ; born 9 December 1946) is an Indian politician. She is the longest-serving president of the Indian National Congress, a big-tent liberal political party, which has governed India for most of its post-independence history. ...

by the

Enforcement Directorate The Enforcement Directorate (ED) is a law enforcement and economic intelligence agency of the Government of India. Established on 1 May 1956, it is responsible for enforcing economic laws and combating financial crimes. The ED operates under th ...

, which they alleged was working with the BJP-led central government to intimidate opposition leaders. Thakor said that this was vindictive politics, "Though Soniaji is unwell, she is cooperating in the probe. The BJP is harassing opposition leaders to distract people from real issues, such as price rise." The Congress also staged a protest at Koba, Gandhinagar demanding Gujarat Subordinate Service Selection Board (GSSSB) chairman and BJP leader Asit Vora to resign. In July 2022, after the Gujarat toxic liquor deaths, Thakor slammed the BJP, saying that it is maligning the image of Gujarat, and also failing to implement the

prohibition in Gujarat Sale and consumption of alcoholic liquor for human consumption is prohibited in the states of Bihar, Gujarat, Mizoram, and Nagaland. All other Indian states and union territories permit the sale and consumption of alcohol. The directive princ ...

. "The sarpanch of Rojid (Dharmendra Patel, a

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

leader) had repeatedly alerted the police in the past regarding illicit sale of spurious liquor in his village yet no action was taken. The BJP and police are running a partnership with the bootleggers in Gujarat." Jagdish Thakor said. He also criticized the BJP for wasting taxpayers money, and for not meeting the victims of the tragedy. He said that unemployment was being neglected, and said that the government was giving booze and drugs to the youth instead of jobs. In September 2022, Thakor and the Congress party gave a bandh call in Gujarat, as a symbolic protest against inflation and unemployment. He alleged that 4.5 lakh youth were unemployed out of which 4.3 lakh were qualified, even though 4.5 lakh government posts were vacant in the state. He also said that 27000 posts for teachers are open, that there were hundreds of libraries without a librarian. Talking about inflation, Thakor said that prices of basic commodities are very high and that it had a cascading effect on the average citizen's life. He instructed Congress workers to ensure that emergency services were not stopped because of the bandh call.

References

External links