TeaThat trio of young leaders—Hardik Patel, Alpesh Thakor, and Jignesh Mevani—were the faces of the anti-BJP campaign during the last assembly election in Gujarat in 2017. Their combined strength was a greater force with Alpesh, Hardik Patel representing power. With the OBC vote bank, and Jignesh having a progressive voice, the Dalit votes gave a really tough time to the BJP, despite all the rugs of invincibility.
Rahul Gandhi’s intense campaign and “Vikas Gando Thayo Che (Development has gone haywire)” the catchline added to the overall impression. This left Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his election strategist Amit Shah desperate. Modi left no stone unturned to impress voters on the last day of campaigning, including the inaugural flight of a (now defunct) seaplane.
The results showed that the importance given to the troika was not very high. BJP got 99 seats, many of its candidates won by a small margin. Numerically, the BJP’s tally of seats was in double digits after almost two decades. While Alpesh contested and won the elections on a Congress ticket, Hardik and Jignesh did not join the Congress at that time.
Congress helped him by not fielding its candidate against Jignesh Mevani (Independent) in Vadgam seat of North Gujarat. Born in 1993, Hardik could not contest the elections as he was a few months away from the minimum eligible age of 25 years.
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Troika in the last five years
After keeping a distance for a long time, Hardik joined the Congress in March 2019. He eventually became the working president of the Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee – a considerable increase considering his age. Once bitten, the BJP was trying to tear the trio apart. There was some closeness between Hardik and Jignesh. But in such a situation, there was not much mutual bonding between the three. They were mostly united against the BJP.
Four months after Hardik formally joined the Congress, the BJP was able to woo Alpesh Thakor. This was the time when Alpesh felt that the party had not fulfilled his wishes. According to reports, he wanted to contest the Lok Sabha elections. Alpesh left Congress Citing the interests of his people and his community.
Mevani did not join the Congress, even as Alpesh decided to leave the party. He considered his options and finally joined the Congress in Delhi in September 2021 along with Kanhaiya Kumar. Hardik Patel was already there as a working president and had a good relationship with Mevani. But Patel was brought into the BJP in May 2022, amid speculation of huge pressure due to the multitude of police cases against him. Otherwise, the BJP’s fame as the dump yard of politicians was too famous to attract Hardik.
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lone ranger
Mevani is the strongest of the three when it comes to ideology and grassroots work experience. A lawyer himself, he spent years with Mukul Sinha, a veteran human rights lawyer, father of Alt News’ famed Prateek Sinha, and Chunibhai Vaidya, a Gandhian social activist. There was little chance of him succumbing to the greed or pressure of the BJP. With the 2022 assembly elections in Gujarat on the horizon, Mevani is the only member from the formidable trio of 2017 elections who are in the anti-BJP camp.
Aam Aadmi Party has emerged as a new and aggressive force in the current scenario as compared to the last elections. Jignesh Mevani was a member of AAP and was once close to Arvind Kejriwal. He left the party in 2016 in the wake of his emerging personality as a Dalit leader, demanding justice for atrocities including the Una murder incident. Joining the Congress formally must have been a difficult decision for Mevani as it put limits on his flamboyant mannerisms and expressions.
Since the BJP has no qualms about his involvement in the witch hunt, Mevani has received his share of minor police cases and convictions, one of which was in Assam. The sword of old cases always hangs on them. Joining the Congress has not brought him any relief. However, when he was taken to Assam in April 2022, the Congress staged some protests.
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The loss and political takeover of the troika
The Congress in Gujarat is known neither for its energetic electoral machine nor for the leaders leading from the front. Mevani has access to Rahul Gandhi. But it hardly helps in the case of election campaign. Rahul Gandhi himself has avoided Gujarat on the route of his Bharat Jodi Yatra, which could have been a time of recharging for the Gujarat Congress.
Alpesh Thakor and Hardik Patel are also not doing well in BJP. Hardik wanted to be “a humble soldier in the colossal act of national service under the leadership of the famous PM Narendra Modi” while joining the BJP. His words are probably taken too literally. His status as a star campaigner is history, which he hopes will someday repeat it. But that opportunity of 2022 is unlikely to happen. He does not have the key to the much awaited Patel vote bank. With Owaisi’s AIMIM and Kejriwal’s AAP dissatisfied with the BJP with their share of voters, the BJP leadership is unlikely to treat Hardik like a star. Hardik might be happy if he can manage a ticket for himself.
Alpesh is in a comparatively better position against the OBC votes. As long as he can mobilize crowds for even non-political events like pledging against addiction, he will always have something of value and benefit. Even though both Alpesh and Hardik are members of the BJP, they can no longer join the BJP. As a lone ranger, Jignesh has a long way to go in establishing himself as a voice that needs to be listened to, taken seriously and obeyed obediently.
Urvish Kothari is a senior columnist and writer based in Ahmedabad. Thoughts are personal.
(Edited by Anurag Choubey)