The A B C of Reservation in Gujarat

In India, the Other Backward Castes (OBC) status is an affirmative action which provides reserved quotas in education and government jobs. In Gujarat, 27% seats are reserved for OBC, 7% for Scheduled Castes and 14% for Scheduled Tribes totaling 48% of all seats.

In 1981, the Government of Gujarat headed by Indian National Congress (INC) chief minister Madhavsinh Solanki, introduced the reservation for socially and economically backward castes (SEBC) based on recommendations of Bakshi Commission. It resulted in anti-reservation agitation across the state which spilled over in riots resulting in more than hundred deaths. Solanki resigned in 1985 but later returned to power winning 149 out of 182 assembly seats. He was supported by Kshatriya, Harijan, Adivasi and Muslims; called collectively as KHAM theory. It resulted in other communities including Patidars losing the political influence which later alienated the INC. The SEBC (later OBC) list initially had 81 communities which expanded to 146 communities by 2014.

The agitation took inspiration from the agitation by Gujjar community in Rajasthan which ended in May 2015.

The youths of Patidar community, who are also identified with their surname Patel, started public demonstrations across Gujarat starting July 2015. They were supported by Sardar Patel Sevadal, an organisation for community service. The youth seek Other Backward Class status for community to get reservation in government jobs and education. The youth formed Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) for the purpose headed by Hardik Patel. The organisation termed itself as an apolitical organisation. The other major community organisations which are participation in the agitation include Sardar Patel Group (SPG) headed by Lalji Patel, Sardar Patel Seva Dal, Patidar Sankalan Samiti and Patidar Arakshan Samiti. Four major Patidar organisation denied their involvement in agitation though later Khodaldham Trust offered to meditate between the youth and the government.

The public demonstration was held in Mansa on 22 July. The demonstration in Visnagar on 23 July 2015 turned violent when some agitators torched some vehicles and vandalised office of Bharatiya Janata Party MLA, Rishikesh Patel. The demonstrations were held in Vijapur on 28 July followed by in Mehsana. The police booked 152 persons for violating prohibitory orders for holding the demonstration. 

The next major demonstrations will be organised in Ahmedabad on 25 August at GMDC ground.

BJP MLA of Dhari, Nalin Kotdiya declared his support to the agitation. The social media helped to spread the protest quickly across the state.

The Politics & its Implications…(Live Mint Report)

With the powerful and dominant Patel community’s demand for reservation in government jobs becoming louder, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in Gujarat led by chief minister Anandiben Patel, may have to tread a bit carefully before the local body elections slated for October.

Earlier this week, the Gujarat government issued a notification, making voting compulsory in the forthcoming municipal and panchayat polls becoming the first state in the country to do so. Local body polls for 253 municipalities, 208 taluka panchayats, 26 district panchayats and six municipal corporations will be held in October this year.

Out of about 120 BJP MLAs in Gujarat, 40 are from the Patel community, including Saurabh Patel, Nitin Patel, Purshottam Rupala and the chief minister herself.

The community, under a recently floated outfit called Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti, has been vociferously demanding the status of other backward class (OBC) and benefits of reservation under it in government jobs.

However, a Supreme Court’s guideline states that there shouldn’t 

be more than 50% reservation in any state, said a senior BJP official, on conditions of anonymity. Gujarat has already reached that mark, he added.

The leader said that the government’s recruitment drive for permanent posts last year, in which several Patels felt left out, had led to the demand.

The group has held 15 rallies since June, and the agitation is likely to intensify with plans to hold 52 more such rallies in the next 10 days. “On 22 August, we will hold a massive rally on the Sabarmati riverfront in Ahmedabad wherein we expect about 20 lakh people to join our fight. Our children are left out during admission in colleges despite securing high marks due to reservation. We want to end this inequality for our community,” said Hardik Patel, member of the Patidar Samiti.

The outfit has so far enrolled about 14 lakh Patidar or Patel members. Hardik claims the outfit has no political affiliations.

However, last week, an agitating mob of Patels ransacked the office of Visnagar’s BJP MLA Rishikesh Patel’s office, considered to be very close to the chief minister.

A Times of India report on 26 July said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP national president Amit Shah have sought a report from the state government on the Patidar community’s rallies, and on the violence that took place at the Visnagar rally.

According to the BJP leader quoted earlier, the Patel agitation could impact the party’s vote bank in some rural areas. However, he was confident that the movement will fizzle out soon.

Another BJP leader said that if the movement was apolitical, as it seems to be, then the government has to be cautious that it does not become another Navnirman Movement.

The Navnirman Movement was initiated in 1974-75 when college students protested against hike in their food mess bill. It snowballed into a state-wide movement, first against high prices and then against corruption, forcing then chief minister Chimanbhai Patel, who belonged to the Congress party, to resign.

“There is little basis for the Patel community’s sudden demand. They are prosperous, hold powerful positions both in the government and private sectors, have family members settled overseas and dominate the agriculture and co-operative sector. It is still not clear if BJP’s internal politics is at play. There is definitely something more than what meets the eye,” said Achyut Yagnik, a political observer.

Congress spokesperson Manish Doshi said the party was not supporting the Patel community’s demand. “Patels who are the backbone of the development model of Gujarat which the BJP is projecting are today asking for reservation. They held a dominant position in various industries be it pharma, diamond or textile. It means something is not right with BJP’s development model. For about 20 years BJP is ruling Gujarat and Patels form their major vote bank. It is for the BJP to come up with an explanation as to what went wrong,” he said.

Former Gujarat chief minister Madhavsinh Solanki swept the state assembly elections in 1985 with his Kshatriya Harijan Adivasi Muslim (KHAM) combination in 1985 side-lining the Patel community. Following this, the Patels became a strong base for the BJP.

While Patel leaders claim that they form about 25% of the voters in Gujarat, Yagnik says they constitute about 14%. The Patidar community comprises Lehuva, Kadva and Anjana Patels.

The Anjana Patels who form a very small part of the Patel community and reside mainly in north Gujarat fall in the reservation category, said Yagnik.

Another BJP member said that many in the party were not happy about the way senior Patel leaders were side-lined after Anandiben Patel was handed over the reins of Gujarat in 2014 by Modi.

In 2012, former chief minister Keshubhai Patel left BJP to form a new outfit called Gujarat Parivartan Party ahead of the assembly elections. He is credited with building the BJP’s Patel vote bank in Gujarat. However, the newly formed party managed to bag only three out of the 182 assembly seats. Later, he ironed out differences with BJP leaders and re-joined the party.

Live Mint Report