The quota stir by Patels has led to the emergence of new leaders on the political scene of Gujarat.
Meanwhile, an independent MLA in Gujarat has declared his support to the BJP.
If the Anandiben Patel administration was shaken by the Patidar agitation, the Vijay Rupani government would have to deal with the Jignesh Mevani-led Dalit movement.
Hardik Patel, the face of Patel quota stir in Gujarat, has announced plans for a nation-wide agitation seeking reservation for nearly "27 crore people" of various communities including Gujjars and Kurmis.
Rupani on Sunday met Governor O P Kohli and staked claim to form the government, a day after he was elected by BJP legislators to succeed Anandiben Patel.
These are the 25 seats to watch out for as Gujarat goes to the polls over two phases on December 1 and 5.
Hardik Patel, who was leading the Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti, demanding Other Backward Class reservation for the Patel community, has been detained by the police in Ahmedabad on Tuesday. He was later released.
It was a night of carnage in parts of Gujarat on Tuesday.
Prasanna Zore/ Rediff.com talk to members of the Patel community to find out why they are dissatisfied with the state of affairs.
'It is very interesting that the RSS is sending sadhus to Una.' 'They will again talk about Hindu unity to woo the Dalits.'
The voting for the second and final phase of Gujarat assembly elections is underway for 93 seats of North and Central Gujarat.
Some observers also point to the way he handled the second wave of COVID-19 pandemic and economic and social distress that followed it, even suggesting that it may have contributed to his downfall.
Curfew has been lifted from Surat city after no untoward incident was reported from there since Wednesday night.
The coming elections seem a tough battleground for the BJP in the wake of anti-incumbency, Patidar and Dalit agitations and implementation of the GST.
Addressing AAP's first rally in the state, Kejriwal said BJP and Congress were like "husband and wife" and alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress leader Ahmed Patel work "in unison".
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said the upcoming assembly election is a fight between trust on development and dynastic politics.
A total of 851 candidates are in the fray for 93 seats spread across 14 districts in north and central Gujarat, in the final phase of the polls, where 2.22 crore people are eligible to exercise their franchise.
Like other cities of Gujarat, voters of this bustling urban centre have been standing firmly behind the saffron party since the early 90s.
Gujarat BJP in-charge Dinesh Sharma and national joint general secretary (organisation) V Satish, are scheduled to arrive in Ahmedabad to hold talks with local leaders
'If Haider petitions the court and the government for legitimate rights it is called minority appeasement, but when Hardik orchestrates violence he is lionised, romanticised and given huge media space that ends up both legitimising and oxygenating his movement, no matter how contrary it is to the Rule of Law,' argues Shehzad Poonawalla.
The reset button that the Bharatiya Janata Party has pressed on governance in the wake of the Covid-19 wave, which also saw a major overhaul by Prime Minister Narendra Modi of his own Cabinet, continues as Vijay Rupani on Saturday became the fourth chief minister from the party to go.
The court observed that 10 per cent reservation for poor among the unreserved category takes the total quota beyond 50 per cent, which is not permitted as per the SC's earlier decision.
Under the new reservation rule, families with income below Rs 6 lakh per annum will be eligible for quota benefit.
In his address, Modi stressed on conserving water and remembered his days as Gujarat chief minister when people did not understood his vision to bring transformation in agriculture sector.
The shock defeat of BJP's chief ministerial candidate Prem Kumar Dhumal has thrown open the leadership race in Himachal Pradesh and brought back Health Minister Nadda into contention.
'When Modi was CM, Gujarat won 128 seats.' 'Now he is PM. Modiji is revered by people in Gujarat.' 'So as PM he will get 150 seats,'
'In the last ten days a mastermind has emerged who is misleading him and using him like a pawn. We made Hardik the face of this agitation. Hardik was the smallest mohra in this agitation.' 'The mastermind is doing Hardik's makeover. He is increasing his face value. But this is helping us in pushing forth for our demands. Because Hardik's face value is increasing, our agitation is benefiting. What is the motive of this mastermind in doing what he is doing is a different issue.'
'When you read that for the first time, areas in Gujarat dominated by Patidars/Patels have been declared 'sensitive' for the civic polls that were held this week, you sit up and take note,' says Jyoti Punwani.
Born in Rangoon (now Yangon, Myanmar) Rupani, 61, joined an RSS shakha as a schoolboy, before graduating to the BJP via the Sangh's students wing -- the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad.
After the Gujarat and Himachal elections and the municipal polls in Mumbai and Delhi, Karnataka, Rajasthan, MP and Chhattisgarh will elect new assemblies next year leading up to the Lok Sabha election in April-May 2024, points out Virendra Kapoor.
'Who will vote for and against who will be clear once the election results are declared on December 18.'
Army was called in on Wednesday to help control widespread violence sparked by quota agitation by Patel community in Gujarat which has claimed seven lives even as curfew was clamped in several areas.
The BJP has managed to retain its lead in all the six municipal corporations -- Ahmedabad, Surat, Rajkot, Vadodara, Jamangar and Bhavnagar -- which went to polls last month.
The EC received complaints from five places that EVMs were connecting to external devices via bluetooth, but after inquiry, it was found that there was 'no substance' in the complaints.
He alleged that the Congress was 'deceiving' the people over the issue of reservation, while the agitators were lining up for poll tickets.
'He is just a 22 year old who has no knowledge of India's laws or Constitution. How will such a man handle a discussion on reservations in an intelligent, lawful manner?' 'Let me alert everybody that he is using the 1985 formula. Back then they opposed reservations based on caste for OBCs and now they want to be included in the same category. This clearly tells us what their intention is. They don't want reservations; they want reservations to be cancelled altogether.'
When Home Minister Amit Shah, who was in Gujarat to cast his vote in the urban body polls, learnt of the poor voter, instead of heading home he went to the Motera stadium, organised a control room, and was on the phone with practically everybody assigned duty on the ground: MPs, MLAs and BJP office-bearers. His single commandment was to check the voter list and phone or personally get people to the booths, reports Radhika Ramaseshan.
'If Modi sincerely thinks that Dalits are also Hindus then spread this message to the entire nation through programmes like Mann Ki Baat.' 'We would love to listen to the PM tell the nation to look upon us as fellow Indians and human beings.'
'We are passing through a very historical moment. The UP election next year and the Lok Sabha election of 2019 will decide the course of India.' 'Maybe the unlettered will save India again because they have inherited a different India and a different idea of India,' says eminent social scientist Achyut Yagnik.
