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Nandini Oza
Nandini Oza

GUJARAT

Congress' tie up with Hardik leaves BJP jittery

hardik-patel-afp PAAS has been spearheading the agitation for reservation under OBC category for over one and a half years

On Wednesday when 23-year-old Hardik Patel announced at a press conference that Congress' formula for reservation was acceptable to Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti, there was a sigh of relief in the opposition party camp. 

After all its efforts of soliciting pro-quota agitation stir leader's support ahead of a do or die assembly election had paid off. 

On the other hand, the ruling BJP was stunned, though nobody would admit it. The way deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel reacted has provided ample evidence.

PAAS has been spearheading the agitation for reservation under OBC category for over one and a half years. While the state government had rejected the demand saying that it was not possible as per the Supreme Court guideline of not having reservation over 49 per cent, the Congress has succeeded by convincing the Patidar leaders.

The Congress is believed to have agreed to give at par rights, as per the Constitution, like the ones given to the OBCs. It has also agreed to undertake a survey. The Gujarat High Court had rejected the state government's move of giving 10 per cent reservation under the EBC on the grounds that a survey was not undertaken. The case is now in the apex court. 

Leaders of a few Patidar organisations, close to the ruling party, have openly said that there was no need for an agitation as majority of the demands of the Patidars were met. They have been giving examples of cases against the Patidars being withdrawn, the state government setting up a separate commission and so on. Hardik, however, had not budged.

He continues to hold public meetings and draws huge crowds. This is essentially bothering the other Patidar organisations and the ruling BJP. These organisations say that people in the villages come to listen to him as they are uneducated. 

On Wednesday, the deputy chief minister reacted in a manner that might not befit a leader of his stature. Addressing a press conference, he spoke as if he was talking one on one with Hardik and that, too, like someone who would pick up a fight on the street. Reminding Hardik that his political career was much more than the young leader's age, Nitin said that he had shown many people their “real place”. “You will be a blot on the Patidar community,” he said.

Hardik, too, has played his cards in a strategic manner. Comprising about 12 per cent of the population, the Patidars have been traditionally the BJP voters since mid-1980s when the then chief minister of Gujarat Madhavsinh Solanki propagated the Khastriya, Harijan, Adivasi and Muslim theory. 

In the elections to taluka and district panchayats held in the end of 2015, the BJP had suffered a setback. The loss was attributed to the Patidar stir. And this is what is bothering the BJP ahead of the assembly elections due next month. 

Girish Patel, a senior advocate of Gujarat High Court, maintained that quota for Patidars is difficult but not impossible. According to him, as per the provisions of Article 46 of the Constitution, a special category can be created following a survey. However, the educational and economic backwardness need to be established, he has stated.

All this happens, only subject to the Congress coming to power. But for the time being, Hardik is happy that the Congress has at least heard the Patidars with patience. He is angry with the state government and blames the ruling party for the death of 14 Patidars during the agitation.

PAAS, led by Hardik, had not easily agreed with the formula. The end result came after at least five meetings. Senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal was also present in some of the meetings. In between, PAAS continued to keep the Congress on tenterhooks by setting deadlines to make its stand clear.

Hardik has been drawing huge crowds. Whether it translates into votes or not remains to be seen, but for the time being, people love the manner in which he talks. Their numbers have not dwindled even after the leak of a series of video clips in which Hardik was allegedly seen with a woman in one, and with two men and a woman in another.

The BJP has distanced itself from the CD row and held that it was the result of an internal conflict within the PAAS over the “money given to them by the Congress”. Hardik, however, has alleged BJP's hand behind the entire episode.

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