Stars of 2017, Hardik & Alpesh in unenviable situation

Three young Turks — Hardik Patel, Alpesh Thakor and Jignesh Mevani — became the toast of the anti-BJP camp in 2017. In 2022, Hardik (29) and Alpesh (47) both BJP candidates, are hoping to win on the back of Narendra Modi's popularity, the man they baited five years back. But the two are in an unenviable situation.

BJP supporters revile them for insulting the PM, dredging up their statements against Modi and circulating these on social media. A video of Patel, where he accuses Modi of "lying", resurfaced when he joined the BJP in June, quitting Congress after a series of court cases, and again earlier this month.

"Hardik Patel shows his true colours after filing BJP's nomination, takes revenge on Modi," said Facebook and Twitter posts. In Viramgam, Patel's constituency, and Gandhinagar South, Thakor's new constituency, party workers and supporters seem blessed with long memories. They can and do rake up, for example, Thakor's 'mushroom' jibe at Modi.

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Thakor and Patel's latest electoral battles could leave them equally bruised. In 2017, Thakor won on a Congress ticket from Patan's Radhanpur by nearly 15,000 votes. Two years later, he cross-voted in a Rajya Sabha election, quit Congress and contested the bypoll on the BJP ticket, which he lost to the Congress candidate by 3,800 votes. In Gandhinagar South, BJP workers protested when the party denied the ticket to its sitting MLA. "We work for kamal (lotus) and Modi, whoever the candidate," says BJP's local vice president Divya Patel.

In Viramgam, in Surendranagar district, Hardik, the face of the Patidar agitation demanding reservation, is hoping that the primarily rural seat, which Congress won in 2012 and 2017, will vote for him. He joined the BJP earlier this year after his conviction that the Supreme Court stayed.

Between 2015 to 17, Hardik and Alpesh symbolised the hopes and frustrations of their communities — Patidars and OBC Thakors. Hardik mobilised lakhs in Ahmedabad in August 2015, which ended in violence and the death of 14. Alpesh organised his community to oppose Patidar's demand and threaten the government with "raids" if it did not act on the easy availability of liquor.

Shorn of an issue beyond their immediate interest of winning their respective seats, Hardik and Alpesh have ceased to be the talismanic leaders they once were. But 41-year-old Mevani, his supporters boast, is now a leader not just of Dalits and Muslims — two communities with a sizable presence in his Assembly constituency Vadgam — but of "sarva samaj". "The people have seen his conduct as their MLA in the last five years. He has fought for issues that concern all communities. He will win a bigger margin than 2017's 20,000 votes," says Hasmukh Rather, a young village sarpanch.

Mevani's supporters say the decision to join Congress is practical as he would get more time and opportunity to speak in the Assembly than he did as an Independent. "The party needs someone like him who is a fighter, who will not compromise on issues unlike the present lot," says Dinesh Solanki, another sarpanch.

Vadgam is an SC-reserved constituency, and the AAP has fielded a candidate. "Here, no one wants to wield a jhadoo (broom). You think any will vote for jhadoo," says autorickshaw driver Mahendra Parmar, who considers Mevani his hero.