The Week India — November 12, 2017

(^22) THE WEEK Š NOVEMBER 12, 2017
GUJARAT
BY NANDINI OZA

D

ekho dekho kaun aaya, Jitu tera baap

aaya,” cheers the crowd as Hardik

Patel gets out of an SUV at Bhavnagar

in Gujarat’s Saurashtra region,

hometown of state BJP president Jitu Vaghani.

Cellphones are whipped out to photograph him

as he garlands a bust of the legendary Sardar

Vallabhbhai Patel. A virtual unknown three years

ago, Hardik is now a household name. As the fire-

brand who leads the Patidar community’s agita-

tion for reservation in jobs and education, he is

giving sleepless nights to BJP leaders.

A 24-year-old commerce graduate, Hardik

knows his stock is high. The Patels constitute 12

per cent of the electorate, and have supported the

BJP since the 1980s, when Madhavsinh Solanki

of the Congress rode on the KHAM (Kshatriya,

Harijan, Adivasi, Muslim) alliance to win succes-

sive terms as chief minister. But, now, the agita-

tion has pitched the Patels against the BJP. And,

the party knows that an erosion of Patel votes

could undermine its chances of winning the two-

phase assembly polls on December 9 and 14.

Hardik has been demanding that his communi-

ty be added to the list of Other Backward Classes.

He has rejected welfare schemes introduced by

Chief Minister Vijay Rupani and his predecessor,

Anandiben Patel, saying they were mere sops.

Hardik’s hard line strikes a chord with young,

unemployed Patels. “He is doing a lot of good for

the community,” says Dharmesh Chopda, 23, of

Naari village, about 10km from Bhavnagar. Early

this year, Dharmesh narrowly missed out on

being selected as a constable in Gujarat Police. “I

scored 76 out of 125,” he says. “The cut-off was 81

this year. Those in the reservation category were

selected even though they scored below 70.”

Had he landed the job, Dharmesh would have

earned 0 19,500 a month. He now earns 0 10,000

at a diamond-cutting and polishing unit in Surat.

He wants to get married, but says he has to start

earning “reasonably well” before that happens.

“I want a government job, so I will join coaching

classes. The fee is 0 20,000,” he says.

Dharmesh is among lakhs of Patidar youth who

believe they are victims of caste-based reserva-

tions. A subcaste in the community—known as

Anjana Patel or Anjana Chaudhari, and based

largely in north Gujarat—already belong to the

OBC. It is the other two subcastes—Leuva and

Kadva—that are now up in arms.

Interestingly, the Patidars were against reser-

vations throughout the 1980s. Their change of

stance is rooted in changed realities. “The agita-

tion has its roots in unemployment and commer-

cialisation of education,” says Sukhdev Patel, an

Ahmedabad-based political activist.

Gujarat did not have self-financing colleges till

mid-1990s, he says. Those who could not enrol

at government colleges in the state had to either

Caste, a

shadow

Hardik Patel’s hardline stance

threatens BJP fortunes, but

leaves Congress little room for

manoeuvre

Standing

tall: Hardik

garlanding a

bust of Sardar

Vallabhbhai

Patel at

Bhavnagar