Patidars, OBCS get lion’s share of BJP tickets

NEW DELHI: Members of the Patidar community and other backward classes (OBCS) dominate the BJP’S line-up in Gujarat as the party on Monday named the remaining 34 candidates for the next month’s assembly election.

The BJP has named candidates for all the 182 assembly seats that will go to vote in two phases, on December 9 and 14. Monday was the last day of filing papers for the second phase.

Of the 182 candidates, 52 were Patidars and 61 OBCS, BJP sources said.

The influential Patidar community, which comprises farmers, diamond merchants and industrialists, account for 12% of Gujarat’s 60 million people and can influence the outcome in 60 seats. The community has supported the BJP for the last two decades but this time it is upset over being denied reservation in jobs and education.

The Congress has promised them a quota and forged an alliance with Hardik Patel, who has led the reservation stir.

The party had 42 Patidar candidates in 2012 and the decision to field more candidates this time is line with its strategy to ensure the community’s support.

OBCS account for more than over 40% of Gujarat’s population and the BJP expects the community will largely remain loyal as Prime Minister Narendra Modi, too, comes from a socially backward community.

Out of power for 22 years, the Congress has tried to broad-base its alliance by bringing together disparate castes groups.

A prominent OBC face and a young leader from north Gujarat Alpesh Thakor joined the Congress and has been fielded him from Radhanpur constituency.

It is a homecoming for Thakor, who once contested a civic election as a Congress candidate.

Under Modi’s leadership, the BJP has tried to shed the tag of a “Brahmin-baniya” party with an aggressive OBC outreach, a strategy that paid off in assembly polls, including in Uttar Pradesh early this year.

The BJP is looking to counter the Congress’ OBC outreach by giving nearly a third of the tickets to them. Among the BJP’S list of 182, 13 candidates are from Scheduled Castes and 27 from Scheduled Tribes.

The BJP has dropped 31 MLAS, nearly a fourth of its House strength, who faced strong anti-incumbency.

In the party’s list of 34 candidates announced on Monday, the five MLAS who didn’t make the cut included former chief minister Anandiben Patel, who opted out of the poll race, and junior industries minister and Anand MLA Rohit Patel.