The Hindu : Was Patel's refusal tactical?

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Jul 02, 2002

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National

Was Patel's refusal tactical?

By Manas Dasgupta

GANDHINAGAR JULY 1. The refusal by the former Gujarat Chief Minister, Keshubhai Patel, to join the Vajpayee Cabinet does not augur well for his successor, Narendra Modi.

Ostensibly, Mr. Patel turned down the offer of a Cabinet berth in the Centre on "health grounds." He told mediapersons here today that besides some other ailment, he had also developed some swelling in his legs and that he was in no position to accept any new responsibility.

``There is no politics in it,'' he said. He would, however, attend the send-off ceremony of Mr. Modi's "Gaurav Rath Yatra'' at Ambaji on Thursday. "It is just to ensure that people don't get any wrong message.'' The Deputy Prime Minister, L. K. Advani, is scheduled to flag off the "yatra."

Mr. Patel's friends and supporters do not take the "health" ground seriously. He had excused himself from campaigning for Mr. Modi during the by-elections to the Rajkot-II Assembly constituency in February on the same ground, but did tour two other constituencies and was forced to appear beside the Chief Minister on the last day of the campaigning.

The real reason for the refusal, according to sources close to him, was political in nature. Mr. Patel still nursed a grudge, both against Mr. Modi and the Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, for the manner in which he was made to bow out of office last year. He had also confided to some that if he could be replaced for the BJP's defeat in two byelections — to the Sabarkantha parliamentary constituency and the Sabarmati Assembly seat — Mr. Modi too should have been removed on the same ground as the BJP had lost two of the three Assembly seats to the Congress in the February byelections. If that was not sufficient reason, he should have been shown the door for his failure to maintain law and order in the State during the recent riots.

The Patel supporters do not believe that the communal riots have created a strong Hindutva wave, enough to sweep the BJP back to power with a comfortable majority. With the caste factor playing an important role in the elections, particularly in the rural areas of the Saurashtra region, alienating Mr. Patel may not be safe for Mr. Modi and the BJP.

Mr. Patel believed that it was at Mr. Modi's behest that Mr. Vajpayee offered him a Cabinet berth so that he did not remain a constant source of threat. But Mr. Patel is in no mood to oblige Mr. Modi and leave State politics. He had accepted a Rajya Sabha seat only to avoid being branded indisciplined, but had conveyed to the Prime Minister that he did not desire to join the Central Cabinet.

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