AHMEDABAD: Ahead of the Gujarat assembly polls, the Congress is trying to win over the Koli community, which is more dominant than the Patidar vote bank of the BJP.A top Koli community leader, Soma Gandalal Koli Patel, who had joined the BJP in 2020, met a congress leader and hinted at his return to the party. Prominent Koli community leader Soma Patel recently met AICC secretary Ram Kishan Ojha during Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot’s visit to Ahmedabad.
Gehlot is also the party in charge of the state. The talks reportedly focused on the Kolis rather than on the Patidars. The Kolis dominate 28 of 182 seats in the Gujarat assembly. The Congress had initially tried to woo Patidar leader Naresh Patel, but he remained aloof. Then young Hardik Patel, who became the face of the Patidar movement, broke away and joined the BJP. In such circumstances, the party could look for the Koli support, said a state Congress leader.
The Koli community has influenced the state politics much more than the Patidars have, as the former has political dominance in most areas of Gujarat. Along the Saurashtra coast in Rajkot, Surendranagar, Ahmedabad, Botad, Morbi districts, and in Bharuch, Surat, Valsad, and Navsari cities in south Gujarat, the Koli community has had dominance over many assembly seats. The Kolis comprise one-third of the state population and form an equal vote share in the state electoral politics.
The community can influence results in 82 assembly seats with a decisive presence in at least 44 seats. At least 18 MLAs from the Koli community were elected in the 2012 assembly elections. Their number rose to 27 in 2017.