Newsmaker: Shankersinh Vaghela, return of the mutineer

In the 22 years since Shankersinh Vaghela staged a coup against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), life has come a full circle for the Congress party in Gujarat. The latter’s head in the state legislative assembly, he quit the party. Which caused six other members of legislative assembly (MLAs) to quit right before the Rajya Sabha polls. So, the Congress flew 40-odd others in a late night flight on July 28 to Bengaluru, to "protect them" from an allegedly bribing BJP.

Many have since termed the act ‘Khajuraho Part 2’, referring to Vaghela flying several rebel BJP MLAs to a five-star hotel in Khajuraho, Madhya Pradesh, in 1995. 

Public expression of dissent and quitting of a party is not new for Vaghela, 77. He quit the BJP in 1996 to launch a Rashtriya Janata Party (RJP). After serving as Gujarat's chief minister between 1996 and 1997, Vaghela later had to merge his party with the Congress.

Vaghela, said a party leader on condition of anonymity, “has a very uni-dimensional view. He can't see the larger picture”. 

“Be it with BJP or Congress, Vaghela has always been more concerned about his views than the party's nature. He likes to portray himself as larger than life  and, at times, toes a line contrarian to the party," says political observer Achyut Yagnik. 

Going by his 77th birthday celebration speech, Vaghela does comes across as highly opinionated. He’d come down heavily on party seniors for not giving him greater autonomy in Gujarat ahead of the state assembly election to be held later this year. 

He’s said he’d support the Rajya Sabha candidature of Congress president Sonia Gandhi's political secretary, Ahmed Patel, if party senior Ashok Gehlot took back his words. Gehlot had reportedly said that Vaghela was keen to be the Congress' CM candidate and was pressurising the high command to change its Gujarat chief. The Rajya Sabha poll on Tuesday will reveal if Vaghela keeps his word. 

Both BJP and Congress party sources say Vaghela lacks state-wide influence. Hailing from Vasan in Gandhinagar district, Vaghela has been contesting from Kapadvanj in north Gujarat and does have a hold over Rajputs, which are upper castes. What limited his influence in the Congress was predominance of Other Backward Classes (OBCs) and Dalits in the party, overshadowing the upper castes.

“As a result, his influence is limited,” says Yagnik, while adding that the limitation does not hinder Vaghela from being ambitious.

Vaghela has maintained that he would not join the BJP. Even so, this might not yield much of return for the veteran politician. This is because of his inability to unite different factions within a party, whether BJP or Congress. His own RJP which had to be merged into the Congress. He has had a relatively weaker hold in Saurashtra and South Gujarat, crucial for both BJP and Congress.

And, with the BJP trying to win tribals and lower castes, Vaghela’s rebellion is unlikely to reap a huge return at this stage. However, for now, he’s ruffled enough feathers in the Congress.