Cong bid to form coalition of various castes in Gujarat will backfire: BJP

NEW DELHI: The Congress may hope to upset the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Gujarat with a rainbow coalition of different castes, but the saffron party believes the move will backfire.

BJP leaders, who are part of their party’s Gujarat Assembly poll campaign, said the Congress’s strategy to bring OBCs and Patidars, two groups accounting for more than half of the state’s voters, under its banner is full of contradictions as the two communities have competing interests and ambitions.

Patidar leader Hardik Patel’s warning to the Congress to commit itself to his community’s quota demand by November 3 or face dire consequences, is being seen by the BJP as a clear sign of these contradictions.

Reaching out to the OBC, the Congress had recently inducted Alpesh Thakor, who has rallied the community against the demand for including Patidars in the existing OBC quota.

The BJP, which has remained undefeated in the state assembly polls since 1995, has relied on the consolidation of voters around its plank of Hindutva and ‘vikas’ (development), maintaining a lead of close to 10% over the Congress in vote share.

Patidars have been the lynchpin of the BJP’s support and its leaders, who did not wish to be named, insisted that a majority of them will continue to back it despite a sense of unrest among a section of the community.

They played down Patel’s electoral significance, noting that a leader of the stature of former CM Keshubhai Patel could notch up less than four per cent of votes when his Gujarat Parivartan Party (GPP) fought against the BJP in the 2012 elections.

REACHING OUT TO THE OBC, THE CONGRESS HAD INDUCTED ALPESH, WHO HAS RALLIED THE COMMUNITY AGAINST THE DEMAND FOR INCLUDING PATIDARS IN EXISTING OBC QUOTA.