Anant Patel: Educated school teacher-turned-MLA loved by tribals of south Gujarat

A native of Unai village under Vansda tehsil of Navsari, Anant is a school teacher by profession. He did his masters in arts and bachelor in education from Veer Narmad South Gujarat University. Before entering public life, he used to run tuition classes at Unai village.

But, driven by the cause of tribal development, Anant forayed into politics in 2009, when he was elected sarpanch of Unai village. He kept climbing the political ladder, first as Congress taluka president in 2013, and then as president of Vansda Taluka Panchayat in 2015. In 2017, Congress nominated him from the Vansda constituency, and he won the seat.

Anant is also chairman of Gujarat Congress’s Scheduled Tribe department. Considered accessible and down-to-earth, Anant has arguably become the most influential voice among tribals, in a region that has been thirsting for a leader since the demise of former CM Amarsinh Chaudhary.

Because of his involvement in agitations and political activism, Anant has had several run-ins with the ruling dispensation. On October 8, he was attacked by a group of around 50 people when he was going to Khergam village nearby to raise awareness about a march named Sangharsh Yatra he was planning, over issues nagging tribal communities. Anant alleged he was attacked by the group at the behest of a local BJP leader. After sustaining a fracture in one of his ribs, which led to hospitalisation, Anant postponed the yatra and is now planning to carry it out after Diwali festivities.

Given that tribals have been a constituency loyal to the Congress, the BJP launched its own Gujarat Gaurav Yatra, whose major focus was the tribal belt—two legs of their yatra passed through the tribal belt stretching from south Gujarat to north Gujarat. Significantly, both these legs were launched by Union home minister Amit Shah from Unai village, home to Anant. On Thursday, PM Narendra Modi chose Songadh, a tribal taluka in south Gujarat, to address a public rally, where he attacked the Congress for making “false promises” and “using tribals for political gain”. This is one of the regions where Anant also wields a lot of clout.

A political observer said, “Anant has no family background in politics. But he has made rapid strides in the south Gujarat region. BJP considers him a major obstacle in conquering the tribal belt, where Congress is strong.”