Patidar power

Why Naresh Patel is the most sought-after man in Gujarat politics

- NANDINI OZA

ELECTIONS IN GUJARAT have traditionally been direct fights between the BJP and the Congress. However, the 2022 assembly polls, expected to be held in November-December, are set to be different after the Aam Aadmi Party announced that it will contest all 182 seats.

The ruling BJP is attempting to win an absolute majority for the seventh consecutive time. It is also aiming to win 150 seats to beat the record 149 seats that the Congress got under the leadership of former chief minister Madhavsinh Solanki in 1985.

In 2017, the Congress won a respectable 77 seats. But that has fallen to 65 after 12 MLAs deserted it. As things stand, the Congress is leaderless and clueless in Gujarat and has nothing to lose; even an improvement of one seat in its tally would be a face-saver for the party.

It seems to be pinning its hopes on the possibility of Naresh Ravjibhai Patel, an influential Patidar leader from Saurashtra, joining it. Patel, a Leuva Patidar, heads the Shree Khodaldham Trust that manages the temple of Khodal Mata, the main deity of his subcaste. Around two months ago, he announced his inclination to join politics. Ever since, there has been speculation about him joining the Congress or the Aam Aadmi Party. The importance of Patel, 56, can be gauged from the fact that no political party has said anything negative of him.

Gujarat BJP president C.R. Paatil had expressed hope that Patel, an ardent devotee of Shiva, would join the BJP. Hitesh Patel, member, BJP media cell, Gujarat, said that any person who accepts the party’s ideology and the local and central leadership is most welcome. The Congress’s Sukhram Rathva, the leader of the opposition in the assembly, has said that any party that Patel joins would win the election.