Congress leader Hardik Patel slapped at public rally in Gujarat

Ahmedabad, Apr 19: Congress leader Hardik Patel was slapped by an unidentified man in Gujarat's Surendranagar district on Friday while he was addressing a public rally. The man then pushed Hardik Patel a few times before people intervened.

In the video shared by ANI, the man can be seen shouting angrily at Hardik Patel after slapping him and trying to manhandle him.

Patel later filed a complaint with police. However, the man is yet to be identified and his reason behind this action could not be immediately confirmed.

Man who slapped Hardik Patel at a rally in Surendranagar, Gujarat said,''My wife was pregnant when Patidar agitation happened, she was undergoing treatment at a hospital, I had faced problems then, I had decided then, I'll hit this man. I have to teach him a lesson anyhow.''

''Then again during his rally in Ahmedabad when I had gone to get medicine for my child, everything was shut down. He shuts down the roads, he shuts down Gujarat whenever he wants to, What is he? Gujarat's hitler?,'' he said.

Later, people present at the venue got hold of the man and he was beaten up. Police had a tough time trying to recue him. He was later taken to a local hospital.

The incident came a day after a farmer refused to let Patel's chopper land on his field. This led to the delay in Congress leader's visit to Lunawada in Gujarat's Mahisagar district at the last moment.

Patel, 25, joined the Congress party last month. He was earlier the face of the Patidar quota agitation in the state that had started in 2015.