New Delhi, Apr 01: Congress's newest leader Hardik Patel moved the Supreme Court on Monday seeking a stay on his conviction in a 2015 Vispur rioting case, which would clear the way for his electoral debut in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections 2019.
His petition is likely to be mentioned Tuesday for urgent hearing and his lawyers would seek stay of the March 29 order of the high court which is coming in the way of his contesting the Lok Sabha election.
Patel moved the top court after his plea for stay was rejected by Gujarat High Court last week. The Patidar leader, who joined the Congress in March, was awarded a two-year prison sentence by a Visnagar court in July 2018 for leading a mob that ransacked local MLA Rishikesh Patel's office in July 2015. The Representation of the People Act bars anyone who has been sentenced to two or more years of imprisonment from contesting elections. The 25-year-old, Patel had started preparations to contest from Jamnagar on a Congress ticket after joining the party on March 12 and the last date for filing of nominations is April 4. "My only crime is that I have raised voice against the BJP. I will campaign for the Congress and we will form the government," Hardik wrote Twitter after the HC verdict. Polling for 26 Lok Sabha seats in Gujarat will be held on April 23.