Won’t join politics, says Gujarat’s Naresh Patel who had invites from 3 parties

Gujarat’s Patidar leader Naresh Patel’s decision not to join politics comes as a setback to the Congress that had been in talks with Patel, who is also chairman of Shree Khodaldham Trust

AHMEDABAD: Naresh Patel, an influential Patidar leader on Thursday said he will not join any political party, ending months of speculation in poll-bound Gujarat.

Before his announcement on Thursday, Gujarat’s Patidar leader Naresh Patel was speculated to be on his way to joining the Congress

Patel, who is chairman of the Shree Khodaldham Trust, had earlier announced his decision to join a political party and said that he had received invites from the Congress, Bharatiya Janata Party and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) but hadn’t made up his mind.

On Thursday, Patel backed down, saying he has reviewed his decision on the advice of community elders.

“During the pandemic, I realised that I could join politics. It was my personal decision. But before doing anything, I felt I should take the opinion of others along with the Patidar community. A huge survey has also been done for this purpose. In the survey, 80% of the youth said that I should join politics whereas 50% of our sisters said I should join politics. But the elders of my community said I should not join politics. Hence, I officially announce today I have decided not to join politics for now,” he told reporters.

Patel said Shree Khodaldham Trust will set up an academy to teach political science.

His decision is likely to come as a setback to the Congress whose leaders had hoped that his entry might offset the damage due to Hardik Patel’s exit from the party. Naresh Patel has had several rounds of meetings with election strategist Prashant Kishor and Congress leaders.

The influential Patidar community form about 12-14% of the state’s population and has supported the BJP for more than three decades. There are close to 55 seats in the state where the Patel vote can influence the poll outcome.

Naresh Patel hails from Rajkot in Saurashtra and is the promoter of Patel Brass Works Pvt Ltd.

There are about 16 seats (out of 182) where Patidar voters dominate. Of the 16 seats, nine are in Saurashtra, three in north Gujarat and four in Surat. Of these, seven seats in Saurashtra and three in Surat are dominated by the Leuva Patels, a sub-caste of Patidars to which Naresh Patel belongs.

Of the total 54 seats in Saurashtra (including six in Kutch), the Congress won 30 in 2017, up from 16 in 2012.