Former Gujarat chief minister and now godfather of BJP rebels, Keshubhai Patel, returned from Delhi empty-handed early this month. During his discussions with L.K. Advani, Rajnath Singh and Arun Jaitely, he was told curtly that Modi is the supreme leader of the party in Gujarat; Patel is welcome to stay on and wait for his time, but nothing more than that.

What makes Modi strong, anti-incumbency — a strong rebellion among Patel community, who have been the backbone of BJP’s support base, notwithstanding?

•In July 2007, Modi launched the Society for Creation of Opportunities through Proficiency in English (SCOPE), which aims to make 5 lakh youth proficient by 2010. Modi wants Gujaratis to speak the “language that the world speaks.”

•A good number of BJP leaders from Patel community are vying for Modi’s blood. Among the many reasons citied is this by a veteran rebel: “In 2003, the government amended the electricity act and made unauthorised usage a criminal offence, defined in very stringent terms — for instance, if a farmer is using a one HP pump against a license for a half HP, that is a criminal offence even if he is paying for it. In Saurashtra alone, 77,000 such cases were detected since January 2005. 5000 people face criminal charges and 2200 people are in jail. Most of them are Patel farmers and we will not forgive Modi for that.”