Gujarat: PM Narendra Modi’s meet with Patidar leader sets tongues wagging

Ahmedabad: Amid speculation that Prime Minister Narendra Modi may visit influential Patidar organisations on Sardar Patel’s birth anniversary on October 31 in a renewed bid to win over the community, Naresh Patel, Chairman of the Shree Khodaldham Trust, met him at his residence in New Delhi on Saturday evening.

Khodaldham Temple in Kagvad in Rajkot district is the seat of worship of Ma Khodal for the Leuva Patel sub-caste, which wields considerable influence in the Saurashtra region, which has 48 Assembly constituencies. Naresh Patel, a local industrialist, runs the cash-rich Khodaldham Trust for the welfare of the community.

The meeting between Patel and PM Modi is said to be crucial, given that it comes ahead of the Gujarat polls, which are likely to be announced soon.

All the political parties have been wooing Naresh Patel for at least a year now and the latter has had meetings at the highest level with the BJP, the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), after he dropped hints of his inclination to join politics.

After hectic parleys with all of them many times, Patel finally announced that he had dropped his idea of plunging into politics, as desired by the community leaders.

But speculation has begun again after Patel met Modi in Delhi. Patel has claimed the meeting was only to invite the Prime Minister to Khodaldham on October 31 and unfurl the Patidar flag. He told reporters that it was a courtesy call and no politics was discussed. Still, BJP sources said, the meeting itself was adequate to inspire the party cadres.

State BJP President CR Paatil, however, said the meeting would go a long way in strengthening the party's prospects in the coming elections.

Ramesh Tilara, a trustee of Khodaldham Trust who accompanied Patel during his meeting with Modi, said it was “a goodwill visit” and to invite the prime minister to Khodaldham. Modi is yet to confirm his date, according to Tilara.

Paatil also told reporters: "BJP workers are themselves geared up, but when the chief of a prestigious social and religious institution like Khodaldham Trust meets the PM, it instills confidence among the BJP cadres that they will achieve the targets for the elections.”

The opposition Congress party had also tried to woo Naresh Patel, and his latest meetings were with Gujarat Congress chief Jagdish Thakor and Rajya Sabha MP Shaktisinh Gohil, among others.