Patidar reservation: Social media spreading Sardar Patel movement like wild fire

The rapidly spreading support of Patidar reservation and presence in rallies across the state is fueled not just by the leaders' personal outreach but lakhs have been reached on smart phones through social media – Patidar Apps, Facebook and Whatsapp. What is perhaps more interesting is the online campaigns are not managed by the leaders on ground themselves but motivated people who regularly update and run the virtual show.

In a span of 45-days, ongoing pro-reservation agitation has spread like wildfire. Instead of an organised effort of spreading the message, gathering crowds or organising events, unorganised efforts from individuals is drawing maximum crowds. "We have not even set-up a control room or a committee that looks after propaganda. All efforts are self-motivated," Varun Patel, in-charge of Patidar Anamat Aandolan Samiti (PAAS) in Ahmedabad said.

There are about 56 WhatsApp groups and some 15 Facebook pages. "None of these platforms is created by PAAS or Sardar Patel Group or any other local committees (there are 42 such groups) of the community. It is all self-motivated. An individual who supports the movement or our cause starts working for us on his own. Depending on his skill some create groups or pages; others contact people door-to-door at village level or ward level," Patel adds.

Group meetings at ward and society level are also organised. Any person with good leadership skills takes the lead. "For all of our rallies we have not collected any funds. Donations are in the form of expenses incurred for buying caps or printing banners or publicity material. But nothing is sought by any of our leaders," he said.

Two Apps to download
Two applications for Android have been created for support, event participation and regular updates of the movement – Patidar and Patidar Anamat. They were created on August 18 and 19 respectively and atleast two thousand people are reported to have downloaded them by Friday evening. These are interactive apps which allow users to upload pictures and share thoughts.