Hardik, Jignesh and Alpesh opposition voice in Gujarat

AHMEDABAD: THE THREE MEN — PATIDAR LEADER PATEL, DALIT LEADER MEVANI, AND OTHER BACKWARD CLASS (OBC) LEADER THAKOR — ROSE TO PROMINENCE DURING THE ASSEMBLY POLLS

The dust of the highdecibel Gujarat assembly election might have settled but the troika of Hardik Patel, Jignesh Mevani and Alpesh Thakor continues to grab the headlines, often playing the principal opposition’s role to the ruling BJP.

The three men — Patidar leader Patel, Dalit leader Mevani, and Other Backward Class (OBC) leader Thakor — rose to prominence during the polls. Thakor joined the Congress while the other two tacitly supported the party, which registered its best performance in two decades and restricted the BJP to 99 in the 182member assembly. Thakor won from Radhanpur and Mevani from Vadgam.

Now, whether it is inside the assembly or on the streets — such as in the recent Dalit protests for land titles — the three leaders are countering the government and experts say the rest of the Congress party can hardly be seen.

“The rest of Congress is doing hardly anything. The three young leaders have been trying to keep the government under pressure, though their movements for their respective communities have been put on the back burner,” said political analyst Hari Desai.

Last month, for instance, the state government handed a Dalit woman, Hemaben Vankar, eight acres of land after a prominent Dalit activist, Bhanubhai Vankar, died of self-immolation, triggering protests across the state. This was the biggest challenge for chief minister Vijay Rupani since he was elected for a second term in December.

The Dalit demand for land spans decades but has achieved little, partly owing to the paucity of leaders from the community, which makes up just around 7% of the state’s 60 million population. But this time, the three men led the agitation from the forefront, visiting the victim’s family in hospital and confronting the government both inside and outsideassembly.ThoughCongress’ legislative party leader Paresh Dhanani visit the agitating Dalits, little came out of the meeting.

“The end of the assembly elections seems to have marked the beginning of a real political innings for them. While Thakor wants to fill up the leadership vacuum in the Congress, both Patel and Mevani are eyeing a pan-India appeal,” Desai added.

Mevani has toured the country, addressing rallies in Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh while Patel has been meeting non-Gujarat leaders, including West Bengal chief minister Mamta Banerjee. Thakor is making trips to poll-bound Madhya Pradesh.