Gujarat Elections saw the coming together of the trio of Hardik Patel, Jignesh Mevani and Alpesh Thakor. It was a political ploy engineered by the Congress and its ecosystem in the run up to the Gujarat Vidhan Sabha election. While Thakor was the first one to swear fealty to Rahul Gandhi, Hardik Patel followed suit right before the elections. Mevani contested as an independent and won, interestingly Congress didn’t field any candidates against Mevani.
The rise of Hardik Patel can be attributed to the age-old ‘facility’ called reservation , the facility that left the socially forward yet economically backward people cheated and angry.
Hardik Patel stormed to India’s political scene claiming to be one such angry man. In his own words – “I want justice for my people- Patidars”. Hardik Patel believed that people of his community face injustice and neglect due to the unfair reservation policy. Hardik was an average student who somehow managed to complete his graduation from Sahajanand college after two unsuccessful attempts. While Floundering at studies, Hardik Patel showed remarkable political aptitude. He contested for the post of general secretary of Sahajanand college Student Union in and won it unopposed.
Hardik’s claim of being the sole custodian of Patidar rights was exposed well before the Gujarat elections, as it appeared that Hardik was more concerned about staying relevant, relatively popular and attain political influence rather than lending out a helping hand to the Patidar Community or even reaching out to them.
Hardik Patel made tall claims of winning seats for the Congress Party after the Gujarat elections but data had a different story to tell. Out of 52 seats where Patidar component is 20 per cent and more, BJP won 28, whereas Congress bagged 23.
So, what after the Gujarat Elections? Will Hardik Patel be happy playing second fiddle to Rahul Gandhi?
Doesn’t look likely. Read what Hardik Patel said about Rahul Gandhi.
“I like Rahul Gandhi at a personal level, but I do not consider him as a leader because he is not my leader,” Hardik Patel said at an event in Mumbai.
Congress has been trying to project Rahul Gandhi as the supreme leader of a grand coalition. The promotion of Rahul Gandhi to AICC President was Congress’ first move towards ensuring the same. On Friday, Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia told NDTV that Rahul will be the face of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA), the direct inference of which is that if Congress-led UPA comes to power at the Centre in the 2019 elections, Rahul Gandhi is likely to be made the Prime Minister. However, the grand coalition is a hypothetical entity at this point of time. And even if a grand coalition is stitched before 2019, the chances of Rahul Gandhi being projected as the chief of it is minimal. Why stalwarts like Mamata Banerjee and Sharad Pawar will fight elections under the leadership of Rahul Gandhi is beyond the understanding of any political observer.
Coming back to Hardik Patel. An open and unabashed declaration of refusing RahulGandhi’s leadership does not augur well for the Congress party before heading for the 2019 polls. Hardik Patel is a small regional leader who couldn’t even influence the elections in his own state, so if a leader like Hardik can say no to Rahul Gandhi’s leadership, anyone can. And we cannot blame Hardik Patel for not believing in Rahul Gandhi. Congress Party President election was the last election Rahul Gandhi won on his own, apart from that he lost every single election!
