EAST
IS east and west is west. In the Indian polity, they often meet and mirror each
other. In something that can’t just be simple coincidence, the octogenarian
Keshubhai Patel launched his new political outfit Gujarat Parivartan Party last
week, sounding almost like an echo of the unofficial buzzword for the maverick
Mamata Banerjee’s election campaign in 2011. ‘ Poribortan’, she had promised to
West Bengal, or rather, Paschimbanga.
It
is however, not just the promise of change which the Patel Patriarch has
borrowed from Mamata it seems, but the strategy that has emerged so far has
more similarity than the slogan.
To
counter the Left, Mamata had taken an ultra- left turn with unrestrained
populism. For his part, Keshubhai vowed to revive the ‘ original’ values of the
BJP. It was the hardliner Vishwa Hindu Parishad ( VHP) cadres and VHP leader
Pravin Togadia who extended support towards Parivartan in Gujarat; making it
obvious that, under the veneer of all other issues, the party will attempt to
resurrect hard- line Hindutva, from which Narendra Modi had apparently deviated
in his bid to satiate his prime ministerial ambition — much like the way
Buddhadeb Bhattacharya had assumed a proindustrialisation stand, to the chagrin
of Leftist hard liners.
On
Tuesday, Keshubhai made a series of promises, which eerily reminded one of
Mamata’s populist claims ahead of the 2011 West Bengal election. The promises
included better law and order, cheaper transport, electricity and subsidies on
cooking gas, reduced VAT on fuel and free supply of life- saving drugs.
If
Mamata’s claim to represent Ma Mati Manush ( mother, land and people) brought
her to the corridors of the Writer’s Building, Keshubhai has taken up the
issues of farmers and average Gujaratis with equally shrill noises against the
state government’s alleged favour to industrial houses.
“
It is a party of the people,” read a statement from the party. “ BJP government
only thinks about five or seven industrialists, we think about the common
people.” Launched months before the assembly election in the state, the party
however has not been able to drum up support among the educated urban middle
class, something that Mamata could do.
With
Gordhan Zadafia, the President of Mahagujarat Janata Party ( MJP), merging his
outfit with that of Keshubhai, the party stands to gain some support among the
Patel community, particularly in the Saurashtra region.
While
Mamata, with her singlepoint agenda of dethroning the Left had age and youth on
her side, like Zadafia and Keshubhai, all those who have flocked to this new
outfit are disgruntled one- time BJP members like Kashiram Rana, former Chief
Minister Suresh Mehta, and eternally vacillating former Gujarat minister Jaspal
Singh.
The
outfit for the time being draws its raison d’etre from its members’ deep sense
of hurt and anger against Narendra Modi and aims at gaining a toehold by
encashing the resentment against the BJP in the powerful Patel Community.
With
a single- point agenda and some external support, octogenarian Keshubhai for
now has been successful in erecting a new political party. The difficult part
however lies ahead, when he’ll have to sustain it and put it to the right use.
