Patel power to the fore: Hardik to boost Congress poll prospects in Gujarat

With firebrand Patel youth icon Hardik Patel joining the Congress on March 12, the day the Congress Working Committee is meeting in Ahmedabad, its first meeting in Gujarat after 1961, the grand old party is expected to gain the support of the Patidar community which has significant presence in the state with 15-18 per cent share in the population.

Hardik was just 23 years old when in July 2015 as the convenor of the Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS), spearheading the pro-quota stir seeking reservation in jobs and higher education on par with that given to OBCs, shot to fame in less than six months during which Gujarat witnessed great turmoil affecting both villages and towns.

The Gujarat police, in an effort to crush the movement, unleashed a spate of violence resorting to firing, lathi charge and large-scale arrests of agitating youth. Sedition charges were slapped on Hardik and a dozen other steering committee members of PAAS. As many as 14 Patel youngmen were killed in police firing.

It was Hardik’s Baptism by fire in politics. A Surat district and session’s court sentenced Hardik to two years’ jail. After spending a year in prison, the Gujarat high court released him on bail but on condition that he stays outside the state for six months. Hardik spent the six months in Udaipur under the watchful eyes of Rajasthan police. It was like being under house arrest.

The Patel community was up in arms against the BJP government, headed ironically by Anandiben Patel who hails from the Patidar community. Scores of villages across north and south Gujarat and Saurashtra region imposed ban on the entry of BJP leaders. Women beating utensils with rolling pins disrupted meetings of BJP ministers and party leaders.

The impact of the intense and widespread Patel agitation was felt in the district and taluka panchayat elections in which the BJP received drubbing at the hands of the Congress. From 30 district panchayats out 31 in its kitty in 2010, the BJP was reduced to six, while Congress won 24 in the 2015 polls.

In the 2017 Gujarat assembly elections too the BJP could scrape through the half-way mark in a house of 182 by winning 99 seats. The shift of loyalty of Patel votes from BJP to Congress was most visible in the pre-dominantly rural areas of the Saurashtra region from where the Congress picked up 30 out of 54 seats as well as maintained its tally of 16 out of 27 seats reserved for the Scheduled Tribes (STs) besides three other independents supported by the party.

Besides the pro-quota stir spearheaded by Hardik, the Congress gained from popular agitations by OBCs and dalits lead by Alpesh Thakore and Jignesh Mevani. While Alpesh joined Congress in the presence of Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi (he had not yet been elevated as the party president) contested and won the assembly election, Jignesh won the state assembly election with Congress support.

The troika of Hardik, Alpesh and Jignesh is going to campaign against the BJP during the coming Lok Sabha elections too as they had done in the last assembly elections. Hardik won’t be able to contest the Lok Sabha election this time because of his conviction by the district court. His appeal against the conviction is pending before the high court.