Has Gujarat found itself a new demigod?

by Guest Tue Dec 05, 2017 5:54 am

Ahmedabad: Of the three young Turks taking the Gujarat elections by storm, Hardik Patel stands head and shoulders above the others in influence and popularity.

Too young to contest elections, the 23-year-old leader of the Patidars is giving Prime Minister Narendra Modi sleepless nights in his home state. Hardik is enemy number one for the BJP and it is him they fear the most.

With an almost superhero status among his followers, Hardik can really take on the Gujarati duo of Modi and BJP president Amit Shah. He has everything they have and more.

He is a son of the soil and a fiery speaker in Gujarati, can draw large crowds, has caught the imagination of the youth and has proved his mettle by going to jail and leading his movement from outside Gujarat when he was exiled by the courts.

Along with the upper caste Baniyas and Brahmins, the Patidars or Patels had formed the backbone of the BJP for decades. The Other Backward Classes, Dalits and Adivasis were brought into the fold only after the communal holocaust of 2002, when a Hindu identity subsumed all castes and turned Gujarat into a Modi fief.

Patidars make up only 14 per cent of the state's population but they punch above their weight, deciding the fate of at least 73 seats, which is 40 per cent of the Assembly strength.

Unlike OBCs and Dalits, the Patidars are affluent and influential in Gujarati politics and society. Essentially a large farming community, they are divided into two subgroups: the Leuvas making up 60 per cent and the Kadvas 40 per cent.

The BJP enjoyed more support among the Kadva Patidars, around 82 per cent of whom voted for the party in the 2012 elections. Hardik is a Kadva Patel and threatens to take that vote away.

Many analysts argue that Hardik is a Frankenstein's monster created by Shah who wanted him to evict Anandiben Patel from the chief minister's chair, which the young man did successfully.

Now the "monster" is no longer listening to the "master". The Patels feel used and abused by the BJP, particularly after the crackdown on their job reservation movement in 2015 when police gunned down 14 youths from the community.

The BJP argues that not all Patels are with Hardik and that the party has far more senior and influential leaders from the community in its ranks. But if that is the case, why is the BJP so frightened of Hardik?

Senior BJP politicians have tried to discredit Hardik by releasing "sex tapes" of his alleged amorous encounters, but that has not dented his image.

"He is 23 and single, not 67 and married (an allusion to Modi). Let's leave personal lives out of the political arena, otherwise others have more to lose than Hardik," his supporters counter threateningly.

Hardik has retaliated by accusing the BJP of offering him Rs 1,200 crore to leave the field. He tears into the BJP leadership at his meetings.

"We will take them on. If they want us to fight legally, we'll fight them legally. If they want to try gundagardi (hooliganism), we'll respond with gundagardi," he roars. The crowds respond with thunderous cheers.

In a state where Modi was revered until now, Hardik is travelling village to village questioning and ridiculing him in public. More important, the audience is listening and even applauding.

Modi has slipped from his pedestal and perhaps Gujarat has found itself a new demigod.

https://www.telegraphindia.com/india/modi-up-against-new-demigod-at-home-191163