New Delhi: The quota agitation in Gujarat has, for the first time, disturbed and seemed to have ruffled the otherwise steady nerves of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. As the 22-year-old leader of the movement threatens to make this a nationwide agitation, hectic parleys are on in the party to quell it and isolate and discredit Hardik Patel. He has reportedly been invited by Jat leaders to participate in a rally on September 6 in the national capital.
Meanwhile, after the Gujarat high court ordered a CID probe, nine policemen, including two inspectors and a sub-inspector, have been booked for the alleged custodial death of a 32-year-old man detained during the Patel quota agitation. Speaking to the media in Ahmedabad, Mr Patel said he was likely to attend funeral of the victim, Swetang Patel, on Sunday. He warned that the government would be held responsible “if anything happens”.
The Patels, who had earlier been anti-Modi following the marginalisation Keshubhai Patel, however, consolidated in Mr Modi’s favour during the 2004 Lok Sabha.
BJP insiders feel that the Gujarat situation will not merely damage the party’s electoral prospects but will also have an impact on the PM’s global image as the party had been “showcasing Gujarat as a model state”.
Gujarat continued to limp back to normalcy as the administration on Saturday lifted curfew from all affected parts of the state as no major incident of violence was reported for two days. In Ahmedabad, curfew has been lifted from all the nine police station areas as the situation remained completely peaceful.
With Mr Hardik Patel delivering a body blow to the BJP, top saffron pundits have begun putting their heads together to wriggle out of the situation. The young leader of the agitation could cause more damage to the BJP as he now plans to take the stir nationwide. He indicated that he would try meet patidars from Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.
He claimed that he could also meet leaders of the Gujjar and Jat agitations. The agitation has shaken the entire saffron camp as it “threatens to expose the myth behind the Gujarat model”, a saffron Gujarat leader who refused to be identified claimed.
Sources said that top leaders of the BJP and RSS were holding closed-door meetings to find a solution to the situation.
