On Wednesday, Shankersinh Bapu Vaghela, flanked by Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, Deputy CM Nitin Patel and other BJP ministers, submitted his resignation as an MLA. Does this signal return of Bapu to the BJP - his old home? And if it does, what would Bapu do to bridge the differences between the ruling party and its opponents like Hardik Patel, Alpesh Thakore, and Jignesh Mawani? While speculations may continue, BJP's renewed alliance with Bapu is seen as taking an insurance against the Patidar and Dalit factors in Gujarat where the party has been losing its appeal among a section of these politically influential castes. Even the selection of Ramnath Kovind is seen influenced by the party's desire to win the Koli caste ( constituting about 25 percent of the population) entirely into its fold. While Kovind has been a faultless loyal party worker, Bapu had drifted away to the Congress camp. So his return to the state politics is seen as propitious for the ruling party. At the moment it's not clear whether he would be awarded with a governor's post or be accommodated in the state party's Margdarshak Mandal. But one thing is sure: his son, Mahendrasinh, may shortly join the BJP. And that says a lot.