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Gujarat faces fresh political storm as ex-cabinet Minister Chavda highlights unemployment crisis

AHMEDABAD: Former BJP cabinet minister Jawahar Chavda has triggered a political storm in Gujarat politics with a fiery 'Employment Assistance Campaign', unleashing a direct attack on the States unemployment crisis, paper leaks, and systemic failures. His videos, interactions with youngsters, and bold admission, stating, we too have failed somewhere, have electrified Saurashtras political ground, triggering fresh tremors inside an already divided BJP ahead of the 2027 polls. Chavda becoming suddenly active, vocal, and unfiltered has created a fresh narrative in Gujarats political landscape. For months, Chavda, who has long been uneasy within the BJP, remained on the sidelines. Now, he has detonated the new campaign on unemployment, and every sentence he utters is landing as a political punch. His re-entry began with a video message on social media where he declared, Enough is enough, talk will not work. This single line signalled the storm he was about to unleash. On November 24, Chavda returned with another hard-hitting video, this time sitting with unemployed youngsters, listening to their rage, and amplifying their anguish. Gujarat: BJP Gen Sec meets family of late ex-CM Rupani amid internal rifts, sparks political speculation One after another, he targeted the government machinery, linking mismanagement to frustration and frustration to the simmering political heat in Saurashtra. In his detailed video address on social media, Chavda said, Today I am presenting my dialogue echoing pains, opinions and wounds of thousands of young unemployed brothers and sisters over the last eight months. Unemployment has spread across every class, society, caste and region. There is no coordination in departments, no system that works. Even big companies fail to give jobs to locals, and on top of that, they behave rudely. He blamed paper leaks, faulty recruitment, and wrong selection methods for a deepening sense of betrayal among Gujarats youth. He did not spare himself either, This is a social responsibility in which we all have failed somewhere, he boldly admitted. With this candour, Chavda began his political march, announcing plans to visit taluka headquarters from September 1, 2025, collecting representations of unemployed youth and women. His campaign doesnt merely highlight problems; it provides a stage for unheard voices. The anger of unemployed women, he noted, is even sharper. Drawing from his earlier BPL assistance drives, he said, It is painful that even today employment remains a serious struggle for women. Educated daughters do not get opportunities as corruption blocks their path. Widowed mothers are forced into helplessness. Even in cities, women are denied equal wages and fair chances. The campaign has erupted right when the Junagadh BJP is cracking under internal factionalism, visible in both the Lok Sabha and Visavadar by-elections. Chavdas sudden activism on a politically explosive issue is seen as a strategic, calibrated move. Political insiders argue he is preparing for a 2027 comeback, building a strong grassroots base while tightening pressure on the BJP, where he has been increasingly disenchanted. Chavdas political journey has always been marked by sharp turns. Being a four-time Congress MLA (1990, 2007, 2012, 2017), he dramatically crossed over to the BJP in 2019, defeated Congresss Arvind Ladani in a bypoll, and became a cabinet minister in the Rupani government. However, cracks appeared last year after he publicly countered Porbandar MP and Union Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on social media. Now, with the unemployment storm he has stirred, Chavda has placed himself back in the spotlight, forcing both BJP and Congress to reassess the political battlefield of Saurashtra.