Congress sees RSS design in Patel stir

Aditi Tandon

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, September 4

Days after Hardik Patel took Gujarat by storm by galvanizing lakhs of Patidar Patels around the demand of OBC status for the community, the Congress today alleged RSS’ hand in the agitation.

“The RSS and BJP combine has always used Gujarat as a laboratory for their political experiments. Gujaratis are mere guinea pigs to them. Whenever they want to try something new, they try it here. If the experiment succeeds, they scale it up elsewhere to suit their political ends,” senior Congress leader from Gujarat Shakti Sinh Gohil said today.

While he stopped short of explaining what he meant by “RSS’ experiment”, other Congress seniors pointed out that the BJP-RSS combine could well be experimenting with the idea of reservations in Gujarat.

“It appears to be a calculated attempt to see how the switch from caste-based reservation to quotas based on economic status works. The consequences have so far not been heartening for the BJP. But it appears they are keen on assessing what might happen if caste-based reservation is denied and economic grounds proposed,” said a senior leader referring to Hardik Patel’s repeated statements in the recent speeches that the Gujarat government should either grant OBC status to Patels or scrap OBC based reservations altogether.

The Congress has remained distant from the controversy. All it has said is — the BJP government in Gujarat should speak to Patidar Patels on the issue.

“We have no view this side or that side. We want matters resolved through dialogue,” Gohil said questioning Gujarat government’s recent decision to arrest Hardik Patel after he had successfully conducted a rally of 10 lakh Patidars. He said the arrest was meant to flare up passions and make a big deal of what had passed off peacefully.

Some Congress leaders feel the BJP would continue studying the impact of economic reservations instead of OBC reservations.