ગુજરાતી
English
(Google translation from Gujarati)
In every election, political parties try to balance this equation according to their own convenience, whether it is KHAM, PODA, PODAM, KHAM, OPT or PHAK.
There is a ‘caste-caste’ equation in Gujarat assembly elections. Most of the time when such Gujarat-centric discussions take place, it is about the ‘KHAM’ equation. In the 1985 assembly elections, Madhavsinh Solanki led the Congress to a record 149 seats in Gujarat.
During the last assembly elections, the BJP had set a target of breaking this record by winning 151 seats, but the party got only 99 seats. This was their worst performance since coming to power in Gujarat.
This is not the first time that an attempt has been made to create a caste equation. Such attempts have been going on since the first Gujarat assembly elections in 1962.
Beginning with the party
Gujarat was formed on 1 May 1960 and its first election was held in 1962. By this time the members of the Bombay State had completed their term. In that election the ‘Swatantra Party’ emerged on the political scene as the main opposition party to the Congress.
Among the national heroes of the party were Parsis like Piloo Modi and Minoo Masani, who were originally from Bombay but were elected from Godhra and Rajkot seats respectively in Gujarat. Jaideep Singh Baria and Bhaikaka Patel were popular faces in Gujarat politics. In the first election the party won 26 seats and the Praja Socialist Party won seven seats.
Traditionally, the leadership of the Congress was with the Vania-Brahmin community, with exceptions like Vithalbhai Patel and Vallabhbhai Patel. Ushangrai Dhebar’s ‘Khede tei Zameen’ Act made the Patels, who were earlier working as Bhagias, aware of political rights.
In the 1967 assembly elections, Bhaikaka tried to create a political equation centered on the Patidars through the ‘Swatantra Paksha’, in which ‘P’ stood for Patel and ‘K’ stood for Kshatriya. The party won 66 (out of 168) seats.
According to Gujarat scholar Achyuta Yagnik, “At that time, the Patidars did not have the numbers alone, so Thakors and Koli Patels were taken together and they were made to believe that they were also Kshatriyas.”
According to an estimate, the population of Brahmins and Vaniks in Gujarat is one and a half percent, that is, their total population is three percent. Rajputs constitute five percent of the population, who are counted as ‘non-reserved’ and who are then rulers or vassals of princely states, do not get reservation.
The rise of KHAM
When we talk about the KHAM equation in Gujarat, we think of the 1985 assembly elections, but its roots lie in the Congress election campaign in 1977. Image source: Kalpit S Bachchan
Image caption, The KHAM equation in Gujarat is usually associated with the 1985 assembly elections, but its roots lie in the Congress election campaign in 1977.
The KHAM equation in Gujarat is usually associated with the 1985 assembly elections, but its roots lie in the Congress election campaign in 1977.
Inspired by Mahatma Gandhi, Jinabhai joined the freedom movement. Gradually, his stature in the party was rising. In 1969, when a rift developed between the old Congressmen and Indira Gandhi’s faction, Jinabhai chose to stay in the Indira Gandhi camp.
In 1972, he won the election of the President of the Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee. He had a unique theory about the politics of Gujarat. He believed that Patels as well as Vaniyas and Brahmins dominated the party and Gujarat society. He felt that this equation was not reliable, as some of them had gone to the Congress, so he prepared a new equation to increase the party’s base.’
Madhav Singh Solanki is credited with establishing the KHAM (Kshatriya, Harijan, Adivasi, Muslim) equation in Gujarat. His father-in-law Ishwar Singh Chavda brought him into politics and Darji molded him politically.
After Solanki’s death, a meeting was held at Ghela Somnath, in which Congress was brainstormed. Leaders like Jinabhai Darji, Ratubhai Adani, Prabodh Rawal, Sanat Mehta, Harisingh Mahida, Manoharsingh Jadeja and Divyakant Nanavati were present in that meeting. The seal of approval was put on the envelope in that meeting.
During the Lok Sabha elections held in January-1980, the party won 25 out of 26 seats. Four months later, in the assembly elections held in May 1980, the party won 141 of the 182 seats. Public disillusionment with the Janata Morcha as an ‘alternative to Congress’ was also responsible for that election.
During the 1985 assembly elections, the BJP got 15 per cent votes but only 11 seats. While the Congress got 149 (55.55 per cent) seats. It should be remembered here that just a month before the countdown began, the country’s Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated by her own bodyguards, which spread a wave of sympathy in favor of the Congress.
This was the last victory of the Congress as an independent. After this, the party formed a government in Gujarat, but was not elected.
KoKaM against KHAM
Against the Congress’ KHAM equation
Chimanbhai Patel coined the KoKaM equation, in which ‘Ko’ was Koli, ‘Ka’ (Kanbi, a largely agricultural community and ‘M’ was Muslim).
Chimanbhai Patel led Muslims to join the Janata Dal, while the Patidar community, feeling neglected by the Congress government, supported the Janata Dal and the BJP.
Chimanbhai Patel, who lost power in 1974 due to the students’ ‘Navnirman’ movement, took 16 years to return to power
They were able to regain power only because of the lost power of the youth.
For the first time in the assembly elections, voting was practiced at the age of 18. 19 lakh 49 thousand 430 voters voted for the first time. The election results showed that if BJP had contested the elections alone, it would have won more seats.
During the 1990 assembly elections, BJP won 67 seats with 26.7 percent votes and Chimanbhai Patel’s Janata Dal won 70 seats with 29.4 percent votes. Congress had to be satisfied with 30.7 percent votes and 33 seats. The coalition made Chimanbhai the Chief Minister, while BJP’s Keshubhai Patel became the Deputy Chief Minister.
However, this government lasted only a few months and BJP withdrew from it. Chimanbhai Patel contacted Congress President Rajiv Gandhi and persuaded him to form a coalition government in Gujarat.
Local Congress leaders were upset with this decision, but they did not work against Rajiv Gandhi’s decision, although the insiders were upset.
PHAK in 1995
Two important events took place in Gujarat before the 1995 assembly elections. Chimanbhai Patel of Janata Dal passed away. Before his death, he merged the party with Congress. Ahmed Patel and Narasimha Rao played an important role in this.
Before the assembly elections, there was a lot of tension over giving tickets to Janata Dal candidates, giving tickets to original Congressmen, giving tickets to people of the Gandhi group. BJP benefited from this internal factionalism.
During 2020-2021, just as Corona spread an atmosphere of fear in Gujarat, similarly the plague epidemic spread in Surat. Suratis had to suffer a lot which led to anti-incumbency. The original Saurashtra residents (mainly Patidars) living in the city no longer had any alternative to Janata Dal, so they turned to BJP.
During the 1995 elections, BJP made a decisive lead in Gujarat. BJP emphasized on ‘Hindutva’ and ‘Swadeshi’. Crime in politics and defection of Congress-Janata Dal gave birth to the politics of opportunism. That is, they were wiped out from the political scene of Gujarat. The party got 117 seats with 44.81 percent votes, while Congress got 53 seats with 34.85 percent votes.
In 1995 and 1998, BJP came to power by achieving PHAK equation. These included Patel (P), Harijan (H), Adivasi (A) and Kshatriya (K).
During the 2002 assembly elections, the vote share of Congress increased, but the number of seats decreased and it had to be satisfied with 51 seats. The elections held after the Godhra incident of 2002 were completely ‘based on gambling’. In which ‘Hindutva’ was at the center, not the caste equation for BJP. BJP got 49.85 percent votes and 127 seats. This was the first election under the leadership of then Chief Minister Narendra Modi, which was the best performance of the party so far.
Keshubhai Patel sought votes in Gujarat in the name of Latif.
Congress’s Podam movement
Podam slogan was given, which included P-Patel, O-OBC, D-Dalit, A-Tribal and M-Muslim.
For the Gujarat elections, Congress gave the PODAM slogan, which included P-Patel, O-OBC, D-Dalit, A-Tribal and M-Muslim.
During the 2017 assembly elections, BJP had its worst performance since coming to power. The party could not even touch the figure of three and got stuck at 99.
The population of OBC, Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) community in Gujarat is more than 60 percent. So it is natural that political parties start turning towards them during elections.
When the Patidar agitation took place in 2015, Congress leaders came up with the ‘PODA’ strategy of combining Patels (P), OBCs (O), Dalits (D), and Adivasis (A), which benefited them.’
After working president Hardik Patel, who was hurt by the Patidar reservation agitation and later left the party, the Congress has appointed seven working presidents in his place.
In the election year, the Congress has made tribal leader Sukhram Rathwan the leader of the opposition in the assembly, while OBC leader Jagdish Thakor is the president of the Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee.
That is why Hardik Patel was made the working president of the Congress and there was talk of bringing active Patidar leader Naresh Patel to the party via Khodaldham in Saurashtra region. For this, a meeting was also held between Kishore and Patel in Delhi. Naresh Patel’s entry into politics may be discussed once again (like the 2012, 2014, 2017, 2021 and 2022 elections).
Faq again?
In Gujarat, OBC, SC and ST communities constitute more than 60 per cent of the population. Like UP and Bihar, caste equations play an important role during elections in Gujarat too. In Gujarat, the OPT (OBC, Patidar and Adivasi) equation is the ‘Nav KHAM’ math. BJP and Congress are trying to achieve it.
Traditionally, BJP did not have OBC and Adivasi base in Gujarat, but BJP has gradually tried to increase it, besides Hindutva is its biggest weapon. Traditionally, OBCs and Patels lived together in Gujarat. The KHAM equation was out of place, so other communities were turning towards BJP.
Congress has also tried to give a respectable place to Patidars through OPT by leaving KHAM. BJP has been able to easily strike this equation without harming its core base, while wooing Patidars has harmed Congress’ Kshatriya and Muslim base.
On the other hand, after increasing its penetration in the tribal areas of north-central Gujarat, the BJP moved towards the south.
The BJP is trying to increase its reach in tribal areas by reaching out to senior Congress MLAs.
During the 2017 assembly elections, the BJP may try to balance the PHAK equation again in those seats where it won or lost by a margin of 1,500 to 5,000 votes. The cabinet that has been formed now after the resignation of Chief Minister Vijay Rupani and his entire cabinet last year also points in this direction. If you look carefully, 75 percent of PHAK is KHAM. (Google translation from Gujarati)
