'Will do my best to strengthen party'

From organising traders in the narrow bylanes of Mumbadevi to being suspended from the Assembly for throwing books at the Speaker, Bharatiya Janata Party's new city unit president Raj Khangarji Purohit has done it all. Zeeshan Shaikh reports.

From organising traders in the narrow bylanes of Mumbadevi to being suspended from the Assembly for throwing books at the Speaker, Bharatiya Janata Party's new city unit president Raj Khangarji Purohit has done it all.

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The 54-year-old was announced on Wednesday, ending speculation about who would lead the party during the 2012 civic polls. Purohit, a three-time MLA and former corporator, has sizeable clout in south Mumbai's trading and business community.

A Marwari Brahmin, Purohit has been associated with the BJP since he was a teenager. A graduate from Government Law College, Purohit entered politics by winning the civic polls in late 1980s and then the 1994 Assembly polls from Mumbadevi. Purohit was suspended for a year in 2008 after he and five other MLAs threw books at the Speaker. His suspension was later revoked

"Purohitji has good organisational skills and it will stand us in good stead in the coming years," Purohit's predecessor, Gopal Shetty, said. "I will do my best to strengthen the party," Purohit said. He takes over as city BJP president on September 6.