Gujarat: Key Patidar leader Naresh Patel dashes Congress’ hopes, says 'not joining politics'

Ahmedabad: After keeping the BJP, the AAP and particularly the Congress on tenterhooks for over six months, powerful Patidar leader and chairman of Khodaldham Trust Naresh Patel on Thursday announced that he had postponed his decision to join politics.

The announcement at a press conference in Rajkot came as a setback for the Congress since he had been in continuous talks with the party and at one point of time political strategist Prashant Kishor had insisted on having him as the chief ministerial candidate. Though that was not to be and now Prashant Kishor’s negotiations too have failed.

Patel even had a meeting with Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, and held separate parleys with Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot in the presence of Prashant Kishore. But sources claimed that the party was averse to making him the chief ministerial face at the cost of the aspirations of the Congress leaders.

Congress was seeing Naresh Patel as a better replacement for Patidar leader Hardik Patel, who embraced the BJP recently.

On the other hand, the announcement has come as a relief for the ruling BJP since Patel’s joining the Congress would have been a bad omen for the ruling party given that he hails from the Leuva Patel sub-caste of the Patidar community, which has a huge influence in the all-important Saurashtra region.

With 52 of the total 182 assembly seats in this region, Saurashtra is like Uttar Pradesh to Gujarat like the former is to India in the Lok Sabha.

Patel told mediapersons that he had taken the decision to put his idea of joining politics on hold following a meeting with the members of various Trusts that he is associated with as well as following a survey conducted within the community.

Patel, 56, is an industrialist and social worker, and had set up the Khodaldham Trust that runs a huge temple of Leuva Patel deity Khodal mata. The Trust is also a key centre for social and economic development of the Leuva Patels.

He said according to the survey he got conducted in the community, 80 per cent youth and 50 per cent women wanted him to join politics, but the elders did not want him to join politics since joining a political party would bind him to one party and this could take a toll on the overall welfare work of the community.

Clearly relieved, Gujarat BJP president C R Paatil was the first to react to the development and stated that this reflected Patel’s maturity and welcomed the decision.

This is explained by the fact that following Hardik Patel’s pitched quota agitation for the Patidars, a large number of Patels voted for the Congress and deserted their veritable alma mater, the BJP.

The Patels have dominance in 50 out of the 182 assembly constituencies in Gujarat and Leuva and Kadva together constitute about 15 per cent of the voting population.

Naresh Patel, who has traditionally been close to the Congress party, said he would back good candidates contesting from any party.

Asked if he did not join the Congress because it rejected his condition, Patel said it was up to the party to accept or reject it. However, he did not clarify if he had put up such a condition at all.

Asked about his future plans, he said the Khodaldham would be setting up a political education academy on its premises, besides several other social and economic activities.

Published on: Thursday, June 16, 2022, 06:44 PM IST