Patidar

The Patidar community, a section of which had voted against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the 2017 Assembly polls held in the backdrop of the quota agitation in Gujarat, returned to the ruling outfit in the just concluded polls as it won almost all the seats dominated by the influential social group in 2022. The BJP has done extremely well in the Patidar-dominated constituencies of the state, winning almost every seat that has significant Patel population. Polling for the 182-member Gujarat Assembly took place on December 1 and 5, and votes were counted on December 8. In the Saurashtra region, the Congress had won Patidar-dominated seats of Morbi, Tankara, Dhoraji and Amreli, among others in 2017. However, all these Assembly segments this time went in the BJP's kitty. In Patidar-dominated Surat, where the AAP was banking on the community to bag a few seats, the social group by and large backed the ruling party. The saffron outfit won Patidar seats of Varachha Road, Katargam

The language of reservation, relative deprivation and frustration is a big attention catcher. Hardik Patel combined this with innovative campaign tactics

Patel in a programme on a TV channel has hinted that he is joining the BJP, and the party will decide from which constituency he will contest the assembly elections.

Decoding the Patel factor: The community, which accounts for nearly 14% of state's population, was once instrumental in the BJP's rise in Gujarat in the early 90s, after the Congress alienated them

PM Modi inaugurated the Global Patidar Business Summit 2022, organized by Sardardham, Surat, virtually. A few ministers of the Gujarat government and industrial leaders were present on the occasion.

According to Prime Minister's Office (PMO), the Sardardham is organizing GPBS under 'Mission 2026' to provide an impetus to the socio-economic development of the Patidar community

Patel said that demands related to the 2015 agitation put forth by the Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) have still not been fulfilled

CMs have limited value in a presidential-style govt

Hardik Patel was the leader of an agitation demanding reservation for Gujarat Patidar community.

Sawani also expressed his dissent over the Rs 1 crore offer that was placed in front of another Patidar leader Narendra Patel to join hands with the BJP

The ruling-BJP has announced 10% reservations for economically backward among the upper castes in the state

A 'mature' group and an 'aggressive' group are leading the agitation in Gujarat and it's a puzzle why the government is yet to speak its mind

Schools and colleges, public transport and trains have remained unaffected

The Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti, spearheading the stir, called for a state-wide bandh on Monday