The sudden rise of 22-year old Hardik Patel, who united the Patidar clan in a state-wide movement to demand reservations in the OBC quota and staged a successful rally in Ahmedabad, can’t be ignored as a gimmick.
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Despite this global fame and wealth, about a million Patels-a mainly Hindu community, also known as the Patidars-are rallying in Gujarat’s commercial capital of Ahmedabad demanding an “other backward class” status for their community.
A large contingent of police stormed the GMDC ground here to disperse the crowd supporting Patel and three others who sat on a hunger strike after the massive rally, demanding that Chief Minister Anandiben Patel herself should come there and accept their memorandum. “A giant variety of police personnel have been deployed at CTM and close to Rabari colony, Wonder Point and Jogeswari as Patel group members began throwing stones and vandalising outlets”, the police station officer at CTM space stated.
The “megarally” brought the city center of Ahmedabad to a standstill as thousands of members of the Patidar, or Patel, community marched in the streets.
However, Hardik had earlier said that he will not hold any talks with government at this juncture ahead of the rally. “We are fighting for our rights”, Mr Patel told the packed audience. Till lately octogenarian Keshubhai Patel was the undisputed leader of Patels and the mantle has now shifted to someone one fourth of his age. When an interviewer confronted him with the state government’s claims of the economic progress of farmers in Gujarat and the fact that they had all built big houses Hardik Patel said, “their land has been acquired, so maybe a few built houses, but they have been left without land”. He also gave an example India’s first deputy prime minister, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.
“He saw a huge vacuum in the leadership of the community because the established leaders associated with political parties have not been able to raise social issues”, said Varun Patel, a 29-year-old Varun Patel, a member of PAAS. He said that the rally will not be cancelled at any cost. He dreams of a government job and wonders glumly if he can ever get afford to get married.
Hardik Patel, Convener of Patidar Aarakshan Andolan Samiti, said, “If people want us to go to jail, we will do so”. The government subsequently declined to comment on the deadline demand put by Hardik Patel.
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Such a background will make their demand for inclusion into the “OBC” category a hard sell, analysts say, although some Patels argue that the caste-based system should be scrapped altogether in favor of distribution by economic need.
