Congress Patel leaders huddle to discuss better representation for Patidars

Rajkot: The state Congress leaders from the Patel community met Khodaldham managing trustee and Leuva Patel leader Naresh Patel to discuss the Patidar representation in Gujarat politics.

Congress spokesman and Patidar leader Manhar Patel told IANS, "The agenda was to request Naresh Patel to continue to play the role of a mentor for the upcoming political leaders from the community. It was even discussed as to how to convince the Patidar leaders to continue in Congress and not to quit the party."

Patel said, "The biggest challenge is that an image is being built to show that the Congress is anti Patidars and the party does not give importance to the Patidar leaders. So to protect the interest of Patidar leaders within the party a coordination committee will be formed. This committee will work from district to the state level for the patidar representatives. The whole idea is to play a balancing act that all communities get proper representation in the electoral politics within the Congress."

Out of 182 Assembly seats, at least 60 to 65 seats are influenced by the upper caste Patidars.

The Patidar community has been claiming that their vote share in the state is 18 per cent. Naresh Patel is considered to be a heavyweight in the Leuva Patel sub caste. His behind the curtains role can impact the election results, at least in Saurashtra. Both the leading political parties had nominated at least 50 candidates each in the 2017 Assembly elections.