Ahmedabad: Barely 18 months after he joined the Congress, Gujarat MLA Alpesh Thakor tendered his resignations from all party posts on Wednesday evening. In a rather dramatically worded resignation letter, he alleged that he had failed to receive ‘respect’ in the Congress, and instead only been given “humiliation, humiliation, humiliation…”
His move came weeks after intense speculation that he had been speaking to the Bharatiya Janata Party but was finding it difficult to reach an arrangement that would give him the status he felt he ought to get.
His aides in the Thakor Sena had been telling journalists that the OBC Thakor community had given him an “ultimatum to leave Congress within 24 hours”. Alpesh was never comfortable in the party and there were enough in the Congress uneasy about his presence.
Alpesh Thakor’s resignation letter.
The 43-year-old leader said he will not be joining the saffron party, which he has continually attacked over the past few years. Interestingly, Alpesh and his two aides – Bayad MLA Dhavalsinh Zala and Becharaji MLA Bharat Thakor – will not resign as MLAs from the Gujarat assembly. Alpesh, MLA from the Radhanpur constituency in Patan district, also said he will campaign for Congress candidates contesting the Banaskantha Lok Sabha seat and by-elections for the Unjha assembly seat.
“We are committed to the development of our backward communities. We joined Congress expecting that the political support will help our cause, but we only received humiliation. Our workers are being insulted on the ground,” Alpesh said, addressing the media on Wednesday evening.
Alpesh’s move comes as a setback for the Congress, which had been treating him with kids gloves despite reports of him negotiating with the BJP over the last couple of months. As convener of the Gujarat Kshatriya Thakor Sena and SC, ST, OBC Ekta Manch, Alpesh wields influence over about four Lok Sabha seats in north Gujarat. His exit can cause notable damage to the Congress’s fortunes on these seats.
Despite this, a majority of the Congress’s state leadership is breathing a sigh of relief. They claim Alpesh and his men had become quite a nuisance in the party and on the ground too. Alpesh wanted to contest from the Patan Lok Sabha seat, which the party did not agree to. He further wanted a big say in ticket allocation, a privilege no party will allow to any one leader, leave alone one that has recently joined the party, sources claimed.
Congress continues to be popular among OBC communities. Consisting of 147 groups, OBCs are believed to constitute about 21% of the electorate. The main sub-castes are Koli, Chaudhary and Thakor. Together they are said to hold sway over around 14 of 26 LS seats. Alpesh’s aggressive oratory worked for the Congress in the assembly elections, but his resignation could make a dent in the community vote for the Congress.
Though Congress party president Amit Chavada and Bharatsinh Solanki, son of former Congress strongman Madhavsinh Solanki, are party veterans from the community, Alpesh’s perception as a forceful leader will be missed.
Alpesh actually owes his instant rise in fame to Hardik Patel’s campaign demanding reservation for the Patidar community in 2015. As a reaction to Patel’s demands, Alpesh had mobilised Thakor youth and formed the Thakor Sena, to aggressively counter any consideration by the government of eating into the OBC’s existing share of 27%.
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When it became evident that the BJP was in no mood to entertain Patel’s demands, he immediately changed track and started talking about de-addiction from alcohol among his community’s youth, bitterly criticising the government’s prohibition policies and its implementation. Patel, Alpesh and Jignesh Mevani emerged as a powerful troika of new generation leaders who collectively gave a shock to the BJP in the last elections.
They led as the face of an anti-BJP opposition in Gujarat assembly elections 2017. Alpesh formally joined the Congress ahead of the state polls in October 2017 in the presence of Congress president Rahul Gandhi. He contested elections from Radhanpur and won. He also secured tickets for his loyalists in half a dozen assembly seats, most of whom won. The Congress tally improved from 60 to 77 seats in a house of 182. On Wednesday, Alpesh claimed Thakor Sena was instrumental in Congress’s victory on 44 assembly seats, a claim Congress contests.
Things went downhill after that. In October 2018, anti-migrant riots broke out in Gujarat after a migrant labourer raped a seven-year-old Thakor girl. Hindi-speaking migrant labourers were attacked and thousands returned to UP, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh citing fear of violence in Gujarat. Alpesh was the face of these riots, giving instigating speeches and inciting his ‘Sena’ to avenge the crime. The Congress distanced itself from his stance, but the damage was done.
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As recently as last month, Alpesh had hinted he might leave the party and join the BJP amid rumours that he had been offered a cabinet berth. Two of his loyalists left and one was accommodated in an impromptu expansion of state cabinet. Alpesh was rumoured to be hankering for a cabinet berth for himself, but that was not granted and hence his talks failed. But perhaps they lived to see another day.
The timing of his departure – on the eve of the first phase of polls – indicates it has been strategically planned to cause damage to the Congress. The BJP itself is facing an internal storm after accommodating multiple Congress turncoats, especially in the state cabinet. To immediately absorb Alpesh would demotivate its workers just days ahead of polling day. Alpesh, during his press address, said what he was doing was suicidal, implying he was leaving a comfortable, high-profile position. It is a calculated risk, but observers say he may join the BJP at an appropriate time.
Jumana Shah is an independent journalist based in Ahmedabad.
