P4P is a famous Gujarati slang which means ‘Patels for Patels’. This slang is often used by Patels to describe their preference for Patel over all others. The term is majorly used by Patel Businessmen. Under P4P Patel Businessman searching for a staff, would give preference to a Patel candidate over any other candidate.
Elections for Gujarat Assembly is just a month away and Hardik Patel, the darling of national media has become even more special in the run up to the elections. National Media that excels in the art of making mountains out of molehills has invested quite a bit of their trust in Hardik Patel by attaching more importance to him than he actually deserves. Hardik Patel the self-styled Patidar Youth leader comes across as a Congress pawn to suitably play their tried-tested-old-faithful caste game to win the high worth prestige game that Gujarat Election has become hit BJP right where it hurts the most.
Contrary to what National Media portrays, the magic of Hardik Patel has faded away. Most Patidars, a loyal BJP vote bank are not willing to switch sides. The asinine campaign of Hardik Patel has now started doing more harm than good to the Congress Party. The fact that Congress and Hardik had had a secret wedding is now out in the open, leading to a major chunk of agitating Patidars to doubt the veracity of the whole movement. The anger of Patels with Congress dates back to the 80s. During their 1985 campaign the leaders of Congress Party used to say – “Those who oppose reservation will be made to suffer” (In Gujarati: Anamat na Virodh Karnaarao ne Shishi ma tel laavta Kari daishu). This led to BJP, a Political Newbie then, gaining the unflinching support of the Patels. For more than 22 years Patels have been loyal to the BJP.
This unwavering allegiance of Patels for the BJP hurt the electoral prospects of the Congress and proved to be one of the biggest reasons behind their rout in the state. The manufactured Malice in the form of a Patidar Andolan by propping up an unknown underage underachiever Hardik Patel is a last-ditch effort by the Congress Party for gaining lost grounds.
Some of the Patels had turned against BJP for replacing Patidar Leader Keshu Bhai Patel with Narendra Modi, but when time came Patidars voted en masse for the Lotus symbol nonetheless. The same story was repeated in 2012 elections, when Keshu Bhai Patel floated his own party and fought elections only to lose miserably. Apart from 2 seats on which Keshu Bhai Patel and Nalin Kotadia contested, KBP’s Gujarat Parivartan Party lost very badly on all seats and subsequently the party merged with the BJP.
Coming back to P4P. P4P is what Hardik Patel is banking upon to wrestle the BJP out of Power in the home state of the PM Modi.
But P4P fails when the relation between a common Patel with the Congress Party is analysed. A Patel knows about the treatment meted out to Sardar Patel during and after India’s Independence. A Patel has been the victim of Congress’s Pro-reservation stance since a very long time and has beaten all odds to become one of the most prosperous people groups of India.
So when Hardik banks upon P4P, he clearly thinks of it as a political ploy and not as a measure to strengthen Patels. Most Patels are exceedingly vocal about Hardik’s misuse of movement funds and for using the community as a political vehicle. Defection of Varun and Reshma Patel was a significant inroad by the BJP. If this was not enough, six other influential Patidar religious and social organisations came out openly against Hardik and PAAS and accused him of fighting a personal battle for his own gains rather than for the benefit of the community at large. These six organizations namely, Sardardham, Khodaldham, Umiya Mataji Sansthan Unjha, Vishwa Umiya Foundation, Samast Patidar Samaj and Umiya Mata Sansthan Sidsar have a major influence on the Patidar community. They have also formed a Patidar Core Committee (PCC) to raise issues concerning Patidars.
