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Vaghela's HAMDOST no patch on earlier KHAM votebank, says Keshubhai Patel

Bharatiya Janata Party national vice-president and former Gujarat chief minister Keshubhai Patel says since casteist and religion-based feelings have weakened during the last few years, Rashtriya Janata Party chief Shankarsinh Vaghela would not be able to revive the erstwhile Congress theory of 'KHAM' in the new grab of 'HAMDOST' in Gujarat.

"The Congress support base created by the then Madhavsinh Solanki government by uniting the Kshatriyas, Harijans, Adivasis and Muslims -- KHAM -- had continuously been shrinking since 1989 and Vaghela's attempts to cobble up a votebank of Harijans, Adivasis, Muslims, Dalits and other scheduled and tribes castes -- HAMDOST -- on similar lines was like trying to construct a mansion from the rubble of a ruined building,'' he said.

Patel said casteist and religious feelings now existed only in small pockets and merely as reactions. The common people, including the Muslims, now wanted stability in the government and were increasingly inclined towards the BJP. The extremist elements, however, tended to unite with the winning side in each constituency, he said.

Patel said Muslims, numbering about 12 per cent of the population in Gujarat, no longer considered themselves as a separate votebank but viewed politics on the basis of issues. The reformists and progressives, who wanted stability most, were supporting the BJP.

He also denied that the Vaghela revolt was a culmination of the alleged high-handedness of the powerful and prosperous Patel caste vis-a-vis the rest of Gujaratis. He admitted that the Patels were a closely-knit community compared to others but many among other communities, including the Kshatriyas, were also as prosperous. The Vaghela revolt, he said, was due to the ''personal ambition'' of Vaghela and his supporters who ''created'' the casteist bogey.

Patel said in fact his community were late-comers in the BJP and had been supporting the Congress in the past. Replying to a question, he admitted that the Vaghela revolt did make a dent in the BJP's promise to provide a model government in Gujarat but subsequent events proved that the BJP did the right thing in not making Vaghela the chief minister.

According to Patel, the people's main political concern had shifted from ''removal'' of the Congress in 1977, at any cost, to the installation of a stable government in 1998. They no longer wanted to remove a party from power as much as they wanted to install a stable government now. This was a qualitative change.

The people, he claimed, wanted to support the BJP but some still had doubts whether it would get absolute majority for the simple reason that the party or its alliance partners were contesting the poll all over the country for the first time. But the coming month would further swing public opinion towards the BJP when the voters realise the ''hollowness'' of other parties.

UNI

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