The Roaring Lion Who Turned Into A Squirrel To Eat Crow !

 BY R.K.MISRA

“The taming of the Shrew” is a comedy by William Shakespeare which details how considerations determine choices .

An updated version of it was  scripted in Gujarat  last week when the roaring reservation stir lion, Hardik Patel turned a timid, self-confessed squirrel to eat crow.

He had  flailed violently against the BJP in 2015, even forced out it’s Patidar led government. Seven years later, he was a pale reminder of his rebellious self as he pleaded for entry into the very same party and  after being told ‘you are in queue, please wait’ was finally admitted in, on June 2 at a cold- pressed event.

Said Gujarat BJP leader Dr Shraddha Rajput, reacting to the entry”, we are a disciplined cadre-based party, and the rules apply equally to all, whether him or me “. No senior leader, no union minister not even the chief minister were present. The clock had turned full circle.

There are two clear characteristics that define Narendra Modi’s rise and sustained success. He guards his citadel and fine tunes his politics to a fault while  Home Minister Amit Shah maintains a hawk-like vigil. Example: A six month extension to the  state’s chief secretary, Pankaj Kumar   and Director general of Police, Ashish Bhatia came through only after Modi’s last visit.

Though nowhere on the scene, Modi’s  imprint  on the entire gamut of ‘rebel’ affairs is clearly visible. There were three youthful pillars of the so-called insurrection that brought down the Anandiben Patel - led BJP government in 2016. They were Patidar pro-quota leader Hardik Patel, OBC leader Alpesh Thakore and Dalit  leader Jignesh Mevani. Two of the three had joined the Congress while the third chose to remain independent backed by it.

As of date, two of these three leaders   are now part of the furnishings in the Gujarat BJP’s tapestry. Alpesh was the first to join after resigning from the party and the State Assembly to contest afresh as a BJP candidate ,only to lose. He is sparsely seen and rarely heard thereafter.  Hardik began making all the right noises after the enormity of  the acts of violence during the patidar agitation and the implications of the over two dozen cases including two of sedition filed against him(alongside others) were spelled out to him. He shifted shop on June  2 pledging to be a loyal soldier of Narendrabhai’s army and being like the squirrel which contributed to the construction of the  Ramsetu”.

If he was seeking to wipe away the bitter memories  of  an agitation which had cost the party dearly, he miserably failed. The state party chief C.R.Patil and Nitin Patel who lost his deputy chief minister-ship in the last change of guard were the only two people present in a lack-lustre ceremony that lasted minutes. Questioned by the media in the media inter-action thereafter on the  responsibility devolving from the acts of violence and destruction during the stir, Hardik put his foot in his mouth attributing it to anti-socials. Popular  anger was  clearly visible as the social media came alive with disparaging remarks and replay of the clips of his name-calling speeches that had viciously targeted the Prime Minister, Shah as well as the state BJP leaders. His credibility is clearly now in tatters.

And this is the masterstroke of Modi. In common perception, the two firebrands  are now no more than men of clay  whose political aspirations rather than popular welfare guided their past actions. Proof of it lies in the way they now adorn the BJP gallery of antique trophy hunts- to be brought out for limited display when needed .

If Hardik was hoping to be inducted into the party at the hands of  the Prime Minister, he was living in a fool’s paradise. In fact, in his last engagement on May 28 when he inaugurated a hospital built by the Patel Sewa Samaj at Atkot near Rajkot ,Prime Minister Modi turned it  into a direct reach-out   to the Patidar community, cutting through the clutter of  assorted community leaders. The BJP pulled out all stops and 1200 road transport corporation buses besides 350 school buses were mobilized to bring people for the event from all over Saurashtra,50,000 women  marked presence dressed in saffron sarees distributed free says a published report.

The  PM’s rally  was not meant to merely re-affirm that the patidars continue to solidly back the BJP  but also to send out a message to the discontented within the set-up to mend their ways. The replacement of Vijay Rupani and his entire cabinet last September had led to a lot of heart burn, particularly among the Congress defectors who had been accommodated in the cabinet and left out in the cold thereafter.

In fact, the Congress had made impressive gains in Saurashtra in the 2017 elections winning 28 of the total 48 seats, up 13 seats from 2012 with the BJP being pulled down 11 seats to 19. It  rejoiced for denting the Patidar vote-bank of the BJP and rewarded Hardik, the Patel quota crusader with a working vice-presidentship of the party in Gujarat. Hardik quit and is now a Modi-man.  

(http://odishapostepaper.com/edition/4111/orissa-post/page/9)