Exactly a month after Khodaldham chairman Naresh Patel and BJP state president C.R. Patil were seen together at a religious event in Jamnagar, Sunday saw the two heavyweights share one frame again. This time the meeting ground was the inauguration of a gym in Rajkot.
The development is significant that nearly all major political parties are wooing the Patidar leader, with an eye on a crucial vote bank in the forthcoming Assembly elections. Both leaders declined to take any questions or entertain any leading answers.
The Patel community is an estimated 12-14 percent of the population and one-fourth of the BJP’s vote share in the state can be attributed to them. Patidars or Patels claim themselves to be descendants of Lord Ram. The community is spread all over Gujarat, with a higher concentration in North Gujarat and Saurashtra. The Patidars are an economically and politically influential group in Gujarat. Until the late 1970s, they enjoyed political dominance across the state, and were ardent Congress supporters. According to experts, it is the support by the Patidar community which has been clinching the deal in favour of BJP for the past two decades.
Figures suggest that Patidars can influence election results in more than 70 out of 182 assembly constituencies as they form around 15 percent or more of the electorate in 71 constituencies. Of about 6 crore population of Gujarat, Patidars constitute 1.5 crore, an estimated 12-14 percent of the population
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