In Maharashtra, BJP has fielded three candidates for the Rajya Sabha elections.
The party has fielded former Chief Minister Ashok Chavan, Medha Gadgil and Dr. Ajit Gopchade from Congress.
Elections are to be held on a total of six seats. Two seats have been left for allies NCP and Shiv Sena, while according to numbers, a candidate from the opposition Aghadi alliance can win one seat.
Amidst this political maneuvering, the picture of BJP’s third candidate Dr. Ajit Gopchade is going viral on social media.
Who is Dr. Ajit Gopachade?
Dr. Ajit Gopchade, who has been fielded by the BJP central leadership as the third candidate for the Rajya Sabha elections from Maharashtra, has been a campaigner for the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh for years.
He has also served Kar Seva during the Ram Mandir construction movement in Ayodhya in December 1992. Last month in January, a day before the inauguration of Ram Mandir, Gopchade had tweeted an old photograph of himself taken during Kar Seva.
Gochhade wrote on Twitter on January 21, “In the backdrop of the inauguration of Ram Temple, I am proud of the kar sevaks who were part of that movement.
“It has brought back to me exciting memories of December 6, 1992.” In the picture, Gopchadhas are seen standing with kar sevaks on top of the dome of Babri structure. At that time his age was 22 years.
Gopchade is a doctor by profession and belongs to the Lingayat community.
This community has a significant population in many Lok Sabha constituencies of Maharashtra. Gopchade is also a pracharak of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and vice president of Maharashtra state.
He is also in-charge of the medical cell of the state BJP. More than 50,000 doctors are included in this cell.
According to state BJP leaders, Gopchade has worked under the guidance of Pramod Mahajan, Gopinath Munde and Nitin Gadkari.
What is the educational qualification?
Dr. Gopchade is MBBS and MD in Gynecology. His wife Chetna Gopchade is a genetic specialist. Gopchade, who received college education in Nanded, has also been active in Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad.
He has been a student of Government Medical College, Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar. Later he completed his MD from Swami Ramanand Teerth Medical College. He runs a children’s hospital in Nanded with his wife.
Have contested elections before also
His name also came up for Naigaon constituency of Nanded during the assembly elections. He then filed his nomination as a BJP candidate in the May 2020 Legislative Council elections, but later withdrew his nomination following orders from the party.
On being made a candidate in the Rajya Sabha elections, Gopchade said, “I am a common worker of the party. The party has entrusted me with this responsibility, I am grateful to the party for this. My father is a farmer and I am determined to prove myself. It is my duty to maintain the dignity of the party.”