The failure to secure the passage of the OBC Bill in the Rajya Sabha, which would give constitutional status to the National Commission for Backward Classes, due to the Opposition’s success in getting an amendment cleared, will be one of the rallying points for the BJP to attack the Congress in Gujarat as being opposed to the community.
Shah’s meeting
BJP president Amit Shah will be addressing a big meeting of OBC communities (there are said to be at least 146 castes belonging to the OBC category across Gujarat) in Fagvel on September 18, an amplification of its campaign for the Assembly polls in the State due at the end of the year.
The party is expecting a crowd of around 50,000 at the meeting, important in terms of countering any losses the party may face due to the Patidar agitation for reservation.
Cow protection
The Patel or Patidar community had traditionally voted with the BJP, and the agitation, since 2015, has meant that the party is looking to consolidate other sections of voters.
Fagvel is also the site of a temple of Bhathiji Maharaj, a folk hero of the Rathore Kshatriya community, who, legend has it, sacrificed his life for cow protection. Significantly, the temple was also the site from where Prime Minister Narendra Modi had flagged off his Gujarat Gaurav Yatra in 2002 as Chief Minister.
