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Journalism of Courage
On August 25, the day that marked 10 years of the largest Patidar quota agitation rally led by Hardik Patel on the GMDC Grounds in Ahmedabad, Prime Minister Narendra Modi was in Nikol, a Patidar-dominated Assembly constituency of Ahmedabad and one of the areas which remained under curfew after violence during the protests in 2015.
Swanky residential complexes and bungalow schemes with rooftop solar plants populate this area of east Ahmedabad that was incorporated into the municipal corporation limits in 2007 during a routine expansion.
At the onset of the monsoon this year, several residents of the area had staged protests against sewer water flowing onto the streets and confronted local corporators.
From the Khodaldham grounds located near the Sardar Patel Ring Road passing through Nikol, Modi on August 25 announced civic and infrastructure projects worth Rs 5,400 crore of which only the expansion of the ring road is directly linked to Nikol, an Assembly constituency represented by Minister of State for Co-operation Jagdish Vishwakarma.
A day before he landed in Ahmedabad, PM Modi had virtually addressed another Patidar event – the inauguration of a girls’ hostel building of Sardardham which is also located on the same ring road around 25 kms away, near Vaishno Devi circle closer to Gandhinagar in the north.
Modi had openly acknowledged the contributions of the community. Organisers close to handling these events said that both were “confirmed” at the last moment.
“While for the Sardardham event, the organisers were initially denied PM’s availability even for a virtual address. It was only on August 24 afternoon, the day of the event, that a confirmation came from the PMO. Similarly, for the Nikol roadshow and sabha, it was only a week before the event that a possibility of such a programme was hinted to the local organisers,” party functionaries close to the development told The Indian Express.
Nikol is a constituency nurtured by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) since the 2022 elections when former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal held a major rally ahead of the Gujarat Assembly elections, and the party recently covered it in its membership drive.
“This time, the Leuva Patidars are unhappy with the BJP. The message must have been communicated to the PM, which is why he visited Nikol. With Gopal Italia, also a Leuva Patidar, winning the Visavadar Assembly by-election and increasing his fan following, the community seems to have an option. The AAP is getting stronger in East Ahmedabad and we have got a very good response to our membership drive,” says Haresh Patel, AAP’s in-charge for Ahmedabad East.
Although the BJP has been winning from this constituency, both in the Assembly and in the municipal corporation elections, these attempts are seen as the party’s way to appease and reinforce the community’s support to the BJP and vice versa.
“Though there were nothing for the Patidar community in his address, no one can deny that when Prime Minister Narendra Modi comes there is certainly an enthusiasm among people,” Purushottam B Kakani, president of Saurashtra Leuva Patel Samaj Ahmedabad, an umbrella body of different chapters of Leuva Patel organisations in Ahmedabad, told this paper.
The last time Modi attended a public event in Nikol was in 2008 when he presided over a mass marriage programme organised by the community.
The around 65,000 square yard plot, the venue of PM Modi’s sabha on the 100 feet road on August 25, barely 100 metres from the SPRR, is owned by four to five Saurashtra Patidar businessmen and is managed by the Khodaldham trust, a Rajkot-based body managing the temple for the deity of the Leuva Patidars.
In his address on August 25, Modi talked about local projects such as the Sabarmati Riverfront, Kankaria Lake and BRTS and also mentioned the Cold Play concert.
Talking about Sardar Patel Ring Road, which was launched in 2002 during his tenure as the Chief Minister, Modi said it is now being widened into a six-lane.
Nikol witnessed severe clashes in 2015 during the reservation agitation with curfew being imposed along with other areas such as Bapunagar, Ramol, Odhav, Naroda, Ghatlodiya and Vadaj following incidents of violence. Manish Valadia from Nikol, who was injured during the quota stir on August 26, 2015, and died the following day, is among the 14 deaths reported during the agitation in Gujarat.
Nikol ward of the AMC spreads over 29 sq kms, and out of 2.5 lakh population, more than 80 per cent are Patidars – the Leuva Patels from Saurashtra region constitute over 60 per cent of the Patidar community while remaining are the Kadva Patidar’s from Mehsana.
Most of them had migrated to Nikol – towards the outskirts of Ahmedabad – from the older parts of Bapunagar. From the congested parts, they have shifted to bigger bungalows in the developing Nikol area while some shifted to the western posh parts of Thaltej and Shilaj. As one enters the area from the ring road, various Patidar community halls, hostels and upcoming infrastructure stand out.
However, the Nikol area, which started seeing development over the last one decade, has its own issues too.
“The potholed roads and sewage water pumping on the roads in areas such as Madhumalti housing scheme (near Kathwada) are major woes which residents of Nikol have to bear,” one of the local residents, requesting anonymity, told The Indian Express.
Nikol Councillor Baldevbhai Patel of the BJP told The Indian Express that Nikol is a developing ward and that sewage issues will be resolved soon.
“Once the Eastern Trunk line to Vinzol becomes fully operational, the sewage issues will be resolved. Already, with the installation of five pumps, the sewage water clogging issue in Madhumalti housing scheme is taken care of. Earlier, water would recede in 3-4 days with only 1-2 pumps. Now the water will recede within a few hours as we have installed more pumps,” Patel said.
“I have already submitted an application for a stormwater line in Kathwada area. Due to development happening at a fast pace, infrastructure too is matching up with projects such as stormwater line, urban centres, more municipal schools, party plot, among others,” Patel said.
Leading Patidar businessmen close to the BJP continue to laud the quota agitation.
“What came out of it was also good. All those who agitated were not wrong in demanding their rights, but this is also a fact that now we only go and demand something from a person who is our own. We demanded from Anandi Patel, but nothing happened during Vijay Rupani’s term,” Dilipbhai D Kothia, former president of Saurashtra Patel Samaj Nikol-Naroda, who heads a charitable trust in Bapunagar, told this paper.
Railway projects worth Rs 1,400 crore including doubling of the 65 km Mahesana-Palanpur Rail Line
Rs 3,125 crore for projects dedicated to Ahmedabad including one worth Rs 608 crore related to the electricity distribution system of Uttar Gujarat Vij Company Limited (UGVCL)
-Power distribution projects worth over Rs 1,000 crore in Ahmedabad, Mehsana and Gandhinagar under Uttar Gujarat Vij Company Limited (UGVCL)
-Slum Development project in Sector-3 of Ramapir No Tekro under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban) PMAY (U) at a cost of over Rs 133 crore
-Foundation stone laid for storm water drainage in Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation, Stamps and Registration Bhawan in West Ahmedabad, and the six-lane construction of Sardar Patel Ring Road.
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