NE NEWS SERVICE
AHMEDABAD, JUNE 12
Ahead of the 2022 Assembly elections in Gujarat, two main sub-castes of the powerful Patel community came together on Saturday intending to regain the political upper hand in the state and proposed that the next chief minister could be from their community.
The meeting of prominent social leaders of the Leuva and the Kadva Patidar sub-castes took place at Kagvad in Saurashtra.
“After Keshubhai Patel (former BJP chief minister of Gujarat), the Patidar community lost its dominance in the state. This meeting was held to discuss how to regain the political influence for our community in the state,” Naresh Patel, chairman of Khodaldham Trust, who spearheaded the efforts to bring the two sub-castes of the community together, told reporters in Kagvad.
Khodaldham temple in Kagvad, located 275 km from here, is the main centre for the Leuva Patidars.
“We want our Patidar brothers in political parties to be given main responsibilities in Gujarat. Be it the BJP or Congress, Patidars should get top posts. Why shouldn’t the next state unit Congress chief be from our community?” Patel questioned.
In the same vein, he said the community is of the view that the next chief minister should be a Patidar. Incumbent chief minister Vijay Rupani belongs to a minority Jain community which forms just two percent of the total population in Gujarat. Incumbent state BJP president C R Paatil is from the Marathi community settled in south Gujarat. Patel said the Aam Aadmi Party can make inroads in the state in the next elections.
“Though no third party has been able to establish their foothold in Gujarat, I am personally of the opinion that the AAP will gain here in the next elections,” he said. Patel also said the present administration has failed to tackle the second wave of COVID-19 pandemic in Gujarat.
Patel had actively supported the Patidar quota agitation led by Hardik Patel in the past. Hardik later joined the Congress. The Patel community forms 14 percent of the total population in Gujarat. Though Patidars tried to dominate politically, the BJP experimented with politics of religion over the caste politics in the state once called the Hindutva laboratory.
