Hardik Patel comes to Delhi as the hero of the August 25 rally in Surat. At the teeming grounds of Surat, lakhs had gathered to hear the convenor of the Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti demand OBC status for the Patel community. Under the whirring fans of Gujjar Bhawan in Delhi, it was a different picture. A smaller, more sceptical crowd waited for the Patidar leader to arrive.
If Surat had been attended by legions of the restless young, Gujjar Bhawan was filled with doughty caste leaders who had travelled from all parts of the country, Haryana, Rajasthan, western Uttar Pradesh, even Jammu and Kashmir. The podium was hung with posters that featured a diverse pantheon – Shivaji, Sardar Patel, Hardik Patel, Akhilesh Katiyar, a Kurmi leader from the Rashtriya Lok Samta Party, and Nathuram Gurjar, a Gurjar leader from the Inquilab Vikas Dal. Hardik was suddenly a newcomer in a gallery of veteran caste leaders, patiently waiting his turn as they made their speeches.
The visit to the capital was the first step towards taking “the movement to all parts of the country”, Patel said, to forge a broader coalition between Gujjars, Kurmis and Patidar, all united in their demand for OBC status. “There are 27 crore of us,” he said, “we are all the children of Luv and Kush, we must unite.” Rallies would be launched in Lucknow, Madhya Pradesh and then other parts of the country, he said, uniting the community across states would take one to two years.
All together now?
A large section of Gujjar and Kurmi leaders seem to have recognised Hardik Patel’s potential to rejuvenate their demand for OBC status. The 22-year-old Patel’s sudden star power has, after all, made OBC identity the focus of national attention once again and started a new conversation on the legitimacy of claims by dominant castes.
Sunday's conference was meant to project this newfound solidarity, as leader after leader went up to the podium to welcome Hardik Patel into their fold. He was crowned with the same colourful turban that his companions on stage wore, and all the leaders posed with swords for a group photograph. “Hardik Patel aage badho, hum tumhare saath hai [Hardik Patel forge ahead, we are with you],” chanted the crowd. It also welcomed the new “loh purush” as Sardar Patel’s natural successor. Cries of “Sardar Patel amar raho” and “Jai Sardar” were repeated at frequent intervals.
But this is still a fragile coalition. In spite of the supportive slogans, there were audible rumbles of dissent within the Gujjar ranks. As Hardik Patel started to speak, there was an ugly moment as Rajendra Mavi of the Akhil Bhartiya Gurjar Maha Sangh rushed up to the front. Hardik Patel was sharing the stage with leaders who had opposed the Jat demand for reservation in the Supreme Court, Mavi shouted. A group that had opposed reservation for one dominant caste could not credibly support OBC status for others, he protested as he was shunted out of the room. “Aarakshan ka bahut bawal ho chuka [there has been enough noise about reservation],” Mavi later said.
For many in the crowd, attendance did not necessarily mean support. Some were sceptical of a demand for a dominant caste as a whole. “This movement is unconstitutional,” said Rajpal Singh Kasana of the Akhil Bhartiya Veer Gurjar Mahasabha. There may be segments within the Patidar, Gurjar and Kurmi communities who would benefit from reservation, he felt, but those segments should be determined according to the recommendations of the Mandal Commission report and the rulings of the Supreme Court.
No politics for Patel
So Delhi saw a rather quiet Hardik Patel on Sunday. The Patidar leader had come to the capital surrounded by a cloud of theories. This is a Bharatiya Janata Party faction’s ploy to destabilise Gujarat Chief Minister Anandiben Patel’s government, some people said. This will make a dent in the BJP’s support base in Gujarat and so naturally the Congress will feel very warmly towards him, suggested others. A third group speculated that this could be the start of a new political party and his arrival may turn the course of the local elections in Gujarat, just two months away.
Patel debunked all such theories: “I am not interested in politics, I am here to start a movement.” He stuck to the familiar script of economic distress and the lack of jobs for young people. He mentioned farmer suicides and agrarian distress to draw in a wider constituency. He staunchly defended the Patels' demand. “Everyone says we are rich, but only five to 10% are doing well, the rest are poor.”
But for all his emphasis on economic needs, Hardik Patel positioned himself firmly as a Patidar caste leader asking for concessions for his community. It remains to be seen whether this identity is capacious enough to draw all the “children of Luv and Kush”, inhabiting various states and contexts, into a nationwide movement for OBC status.