Opinion: How Hardik Patel is benefitting the Congress

Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India

Here is a person who is addressing political rallies, taking on the Prime Minister as well as incumbent BJP in Gujarat and is seen by many as the face and focal point of the Patidar agitation. But surprisingly he isn’t contesting the elections. So why sue adroit campaigning, such heavy lifting — merely for the gains of some other political entity or to embarrass a party that’s held power in Gujarat for over two decades?

Even a scandalous sex CD a month ago has had little or no impact on this ‘overnight’ leader who has used the demand for reservations for the influential Patidar community to catapult him to national fame. 24-year-old Hardik Patel, it seems, is using these state polls to address his constituency - the influential Patidar (Patel) community - and test waters for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

Today, he did not miss a beat when he took on Prime Minister on his seaplane ride from the Sabarmati River in Ahmedabad, suggesting that the plane perhaps may be put to better use if it helps spray pesticides for farmers.

A day earlier the gracious Mr Patel had taken on the BJP’s claims of development by likening the state of Gujarat to the Lanka of Ramayana-fame - Ravana's city that was said to be made of gold. (Not sure who Hardik sees as Raavana but here I leave it to the discerning readers to hazard a guess).

On the campaign trail in Patan, in north Gujarat, a crowd of over 40,000 chanted his name as Hardik took the stage. In 2012, BJP won 3 of the 4 assembly seats from Patan but insiders are sceptical this time. North Gujarat, on the whole, isn’t a BJP stronghold and the party could see itself lose the foothold that it had created in 2012 come December 14 - blame it on the Hardik factor.

The Congress seems to have conveniently hitched a ride on the Hardik-wagon - here is a Patel who keeps harping on the BJP’s arrogance and how the party has taken Gujarat for granted. Behind the scenes Congress leaders will concede that this has been one ‘helluva’ Patel to deal with — no one would have expected that someone who can’t hold elected office would show such political acumen.

Also read: Opinion: BJP remains buoyant in Gujarat, Congress rides a wave, Hardik Patel does some heavy lifting

In a recent interview with a TV channel, Hardik indicated that he was looking to play a larger role ‘dedh saal baad’ (one-and-a-half years later). Parliamentary elections are due in April-May 2019. The arithmetic seems spot on. Patel has been canoodling with the Congress but has so far stopped short of joining the party. He says he will if the entire Patidar community asked him to — and I’m not sure entirely how all the Patels in the state are supposed to do that considering that they form about 14 per cent of the 6 crore people of Gujarat.

Hardik may not have been seen visiting temples (Rahul Gandhi seems to have called dibs on that one) but hasn’t shied away from bringing up the Ram Mandir issue is Ayodhya. At a recent gathering near Ahmedabad, he said: “Ram is in our hearts. The people go Gujarat have even given bricks for the Ram Temple in Ayodhya. But have they given any account of what they did with the bricks?”

So here is the curious case of Hardik Patel: A man who is too young to contest the elections, a man with no political party, a man with no specific vision outlined for the movement (Patidaar Andolan) that he claims to represent, a man who is full of rhetoric and a man, who might galvanise the Patel’s enough to give the BJP sleepless nights.

In the final analysis, even if the BJP’s vote percentage shrinks, their margins of victories fall, some of their heavyweights miss out, the number of seats notwithstanding, Hardik Patel would have announced his candidature for 2019.

(Disclaimer: The author writes here in a personal capacity).