Rajkot (Gujarat):Elections to six municipal corporations and district and taluka panchayats are to be held and all political parties have begun campaigning in earnest, each of them claiming that they will win the polls. Meetings of different caste groups too are being organized to mobilize support. At Unjha, a meeting of two sub-castes of Patidar, Leua and Kadva, was held in which community leaders were present. Earlier, another meeting of Patidar community was held in Khodaldham, Jetpur in which influential leaders of the community of both the Congress and the BJP were present.
Both organizers and community leaders claimed the meetings did not have any political agenda. Significantly, deputy chief minister Nitin Patel, Patidar MLAs and MP of Mehsana district and other prominent leaders were conspicuous by their absence. However, state NCP president Jayant Boski added political colour to the meeting with his presence.
It is a religious and social conference, the youth of the community must join politics: Naresh Patel
President of Khodaldham Naresh Patel came for the first time to Unjha’s Umiyadham. After offering pooja to Umiya goddess, he clarified that he felt happy coming to the place for the first time and that the conference was not political. However, he stressed the need for the youth of the community to take an active part in politics. He called upon the youth to share a common platform so that there is all-round progress in agriculture, education, health and society. The meeting was planned much before the election dates were announced and hence it did not have a political agenda. The temple trust is for the community and for any political party, he clarified.
Patidar community members pledged unity in the premises of Umiya Mata temple
Unjha Umiya Mata trust secretary Dilip Bhai Patel too said the meeting was organized to discuss the progress of the community in the field of religion, industry, education and society. NCP state president Jayant Boski raised political issues in the meeting saying the members of Patidar community should be united irrespective of their affiliation with Kadva and Leua sects and work for the uplift of all sections of the society. Targetting the BJP government, he said though the BJP has been in power since last 22 years it has made youth jobless – not only the youth of the Patidar community but of other castes as well.
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Objective is to get more seats for Patidars irrespective of their political affiliation
The Patidar community has been influencing every election in Gujarat for decades. In the wake of the forthcoming civic body elections, series of meetings of the Patidar community has begun. Talking to ETV Bharat, senior journalist and political analyst Sunil Joshi said the purpose of such caste-specific meetings could be to get more number of Patidar candidates elected no matter which party they belong to, Congress or BJP. In areas which have more Patidar voters, even the community will get benefited.
Such conferences were also held in the past
Recently a conference of Leua and Kadva Patidar was held in Khodaldham followed by a similar conference in Unjha. About this, Sunil Joshi said similar conferences were held also in the past. We had also seen the impact of such conferences. It is evident from these conferences that the leaders of the Patidar community are trying to increase the influence of their community on political parties. The political party that serves the interest of the community most stands to gain from such conferences.
