Hardik Patel was barely 22 when he became the face of the Patidar agitation demanding reservation in Gujarat in 2015. The agitation, which had turned violent in between, leading to the death of 14 people, was mostly successful, as the Centre agreed to most of the demands.
The stir helped the Congress reap electoral benefits in the 2015 panchayat elections and in the 2017 assembly elections. In 2017, it won 77 of 182 assembly seats, its best performance since 1985. Hardik joined the Congress ahead of the Lok Sabha elections in 2019, but the party drew a blank in the state. Though he was made working president of the state unit, he continued to grumble about not getting any responsibility and quit the party on May 18.
In an interview, Hardik talks about the Congress, the BJP and the many allegations against him. Excerpts:
Q/ You said you did not get to work in the Congress.
A/ No, not at all. There is no planning. There is nothing to do with people’s sentiments. If they had people’s sentiments in mind, a former Union minister (Bharatsinh Solanki) would not have said that dogs peed on the bricks gathered for the Ram temple. The bricks were gathered by people.
Q/ As working president, shouldn’t you have been the one delegating work?
A/ I never had such power as working president. Even if I had to get someone into the Congress fold, I had to ask for the state Congress president’s permission. If he said no, then I could not. One example is that of an incumbent corporator from Rajkot who was taken into the Congress by me. I had to fight for a ticket for him.
Q/ Were you not aware about these things when you joined the party in 2019?
A/ I experienced it more when I saw the party from close quarters.
Q/ Could you not bring changes in the Congress?
A/ There is no change happening in the Congress and that is the reason I quit. They do not want to change. They only want to bring 65 seats so that they get two Rajya Sabha seats. They do not want to fight to get power. They do not want to think about the interests of the people. They have nothing to do with the masses.
Q/ During the Patidar reservation stir, you spoke a lot against the BJP. How would you justify your decision to join the BJP?
A/ Why did we fight against power? We have a saying in Gujarati: ‘Mangya vagar ma pan nathi pirasti (Even mother does not serve without you asking for it)’. We had fought for the rights of poor Patidars. The same people in power ended the agitation by giving 10 per cent reservation and Rs1,000 crore Yuva Swavlamban Yojna, and setting up a commission for non-reserved category. You have to fight if you want to get it.
During an agitation one could have spoken with aggression as a youth. This was not the first agitation. Similar things have happened in the JP agitation. People who had spoken against Indira Gandhi had also joined the Congress later on and some others formed new parties. The fight is issue-based. You are not opposed to anyone for a lifetime.
We thank the prime minister, who gave the reservation. It was society’s demand. Anyone who needs reservation on an economic basis should get it. When we went to the people, we realised that it was not just Patidars who are poor; Brahmins are also poor. We did not say that we want reservation only for Patidars.
Q/ Wasn’t the BJP an option when you joined the Congress in 2019?
A/ The issues of Article 370 and Ram temple came up after I joined the Congress. At that point in time, I had appreciated it even while remaining in the Congress.
Q/ Did the change of heart happen because of Article 370 and Ram temple?
A/ For any work, you need to have firm determination. The BJP showed that. There has to be firm determination or ideology in the Congress. What is its stand? The Congress just could not clear the stand. It does not want to do anything other than politics of opposing. Does the Congress have anything other than abusing Narendra Modi? Can’t you say that Article 370 is a right issue and it is good? And at the same time also speak what else was necessary to do along with it. The politics of opposing does not work in everything.
Q/ If you are in the ruling party, will you be able to highlight pressing issues like price rise and inflation? That, too, in a ‘disciplined’ party like the BJP.
A/ One should be disciplined. In the Congress, people who have damaged the party headquarters were given posts in the Ahmedabad city unit.
Q/ Do you mean people would not have raised these issues in the BJP?
A/ I do not want to get into the past. I am talking about the present. I will surely try to explain the issues to the party leaders and also give suggestions. Politics works in this manner, by talking to the smallest worker, understanding him and seeing what he thinks of a particular issue. Gone are the days when governments fell when onion prices increased.
Q/ You have claimed that you were never afraid of the court cases against you.
A/ Today I have 22 cases against me. Had I been afraid, I would have made an arrangement then itself so that the two-year sentence period is stalled. I am not scared. I was behind bars for nine months. How many more months will you put me in jail? I have not murdered or raped anyone, I have not wielded weapons. Cases against me are political.
Q/ By joining the ruling party, wouldn’t things become easy?
A/ Well, yes, if you say so. Why should we suffer? We are here to do good for society. Lakhs of people are taking the benefit of the schemes. Why should Hardik Patel and 200 others get troubled?
Q/ How do you justify your lifestyle? You have a modest middle-class background.
A/ My father is not that poor, though he cannot keep his son like a king. I have said this earlier also. Who should be bothered about my lifestyle? Probably, someone who has given me money to buy a pair of shoes. He can ask. When you become a social and political face there are a lot of people who support you as their aspirations are associated with the person. The ones who have helped do not have questions but the ones who have not given anything have a lot to ask. I am least bothered by what people think. For this, I follow Bal Thackeray.
If someone has given me a Toyota Fortuner and I travel in it, does that improve my lifestyle? Should we take a bus to attend 10 programmes in a day?
Q/ The lavish wedding of your sister is also talked about.
A/ What difference does it make? Will any politician want his sister’s marriage to be held like that of a pauper’s sister? In villages, don’t you borrow Rs5 lakh to marry off a family member? You have aspirations. These questions aren’t important for today’s politics. Such questions should not be there. You do not need to go and check someone’s bed to see whether he is with his wife or his girlfriend. You might be going around with 10 girlfriends, but you have an objection when your leader is with a girlfriend. You enjoy booze, but if your leader has it then you have a problem.
Q/ What will be your role in the Gujarat assembly polls?
A/ More than the role, I will have responsibility for the cause of the state. That is what I can see.
Q/ What if you are also ‘finished’ like Alpesh Thakor (who is struggling after jumping from the Congress to the BJP)?
A/ Nobody gets finished like this in politics. The biggest example is late chief minister Chimanbhai Patel. When he had to leave in 1974, did anyone think that in 1990 he would become the chief minister again?
Q/ Is the death of 14 people in the Patidar agitation still relevant?
A/ The financial aspect has been completed. The then deputy chief minister Nitin Patel had promised semi-government jobs for a dependant of each of the deceased. This is after the necessary educational qualification is attained. Remaining small issues need to be sorted out.
Q/ There are allegations that you siphoned off funds received during the Patidar agitation.
A/ There was no account or structure. No account was opened. There was nothing like a trust formed. For example, funds came for public meetings.