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Patidar leader Hardik Patel, the working president of Gujarat Congress, appears to be unsettled with the possibility of another tall Patidar leader Naresh Patel being inducted into the party ahead of the assembly election in the state.
Naresh Patel, on his part, has been keeping everyone guessing. But the interest he has generated with his possible entry into electoral politics has reaffirmed the importance that the Patidar community enjoys in Gujarat polity.
The ruling BJP changed its entire cabinet, including chief minister Vijay Rupani, last year and brought in Bhupendra Patel, a Patidar, as the CM last year in one fell swoop.
Hardik Patel rose to prominence riding the Patidar agitation in 2015 which funnelled the anger of the community against the BJP in the 2017 assembly election. Many of his colleagues were fielded by the Congress in Saurashtra and they romped home, strengthening Patel's position both as an activist and a rallying point against the BJP in Gujarat. He soon joined the Congress and was made the working president of the party, much to the chagrin of the senior leaders of the state.
Naresh Patel, an industrialist and the chief of Khodaldham Trust, which runs the biggest temple of Khodiyar Mata, the reigning deity of the Leuva Patel community, indicated his desire to join electoral politics and all three political parties - the BJP, Congress and AAP - began to woo him. However, he appears to be tilting towards Congress.
According to people aware of the matter, Patel had sought election strategist Prashant Kishor's involvement in strategising Gujarat election campaign for the Congress and wanted to be projected as the chief ministerial candidate. While negotiations continued, Patel's visit to Delhi this week sparked speculation of the deal being done. On Saturday, though, Patel told the media in Rajkot that his visit to Delhi was for social reasons and he had met Prashant Kishore at a marriage. Further, he kept his decision to join politics dangling till mid-May.
A senior leader of the Congress from Saurashtra said that Patel's entry would have galvanised workers in a big way, at least in the short term. "As of now, we see that the anger against the government on the ground is way more than it was back in 2017," said the leader.
Naresh Patel, on his part, has been keeping everyone guessing. But the interest he has generated with his possible entry into electoral politics has reaffirmed the importance that the Patidar community enjoys in Gujarat polity.
The ruling BJP changed its entire cabinet, including chief minister Vijay Rupani, last year and brought in Bhupendra Patel, a Patidar, as the CM last year in one fell swoop.
Hardik Patel rose to prominence riding the Patidar agitation in 2015 which funnelled the anger of the community against the BJP in the 2017 assembly election. Many of his colleagues were fielded by the Congress in Saurashtra and they romped home, strengthening Patel's position both as an activist and a rallying point against the BJP in Gujarat. He soon joined the Congress and was made the working president of the party, much to the chagrin of the senior leaders of the state.
Naresh Patel, an industrialist and the chief of Khodaldham Trust, which runs the biggest temple of Khodiyar Mata, the reigning deity of the Leuva Patel community, indicated his desire to join electoral politics and all three political parties - the BJP, Congress and AAP - began to woo him. However, he appears to be tilting towards Congress.
According to people aware of the matter, Patel had sought election strategist Prashant Kishor's involvement in strategising Gujarat election campaign for the Congress and wanted to be projected as the chief ministerial candidate. While negotiations continued, Patel's visit to Delhi this week sparked speculation of the deal being done. On Saturday, though, Patel told the media in Rajkot that his visit to Delhi was for social reasons and he had met Prashant Kishore at a marriage. Further, he kept his decision to join politics dangling till mid-May.
A senior leader of the Congress from Saurashtra said that Patel's entry would have galvanised workers in a big way, at least in the short term. "As of now, we see that the anger against the government on the ground is way more than it was back in 2017," said the leader.
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