Gujarat Assembly Elections 2017: Will support Congress, says Hardik Patel

Patidar Anamat Andolan Samithi (PAAS) convener Hardik Patel on Thursday gave the clear indication that he will back the Congress in the upcoming Gujarat Assembly elections, saying the state's opposition party was "clearly supporting" members of his community.

Patel said he was assured by senior leaders of the Congress party of support to the Other Backward Class (OBC) community and guarantee them reservation in jobs and education, something the 24-year-old party leader has been campaigning for.

The Congress hasn't met that demand, but Hardik Patel, back in Ahmedabad after a whirlwind tour of Saurashtra, told NDTV, "I have been telling my community that they have to vote the BJP out of power...the community is directly supporting the fall of the BJP."

OBCs comprise 146 castes and make up around 40% of the state's population.

They are given 27% quota in jobs and education. The scheduled castes have 7% and the scheduled tribes 15% , making a total of 49%, just under the 50% reservation cap set by the Supreme Court.

The party had earlier invited the agitating leaders, who have been acting as a pressure group, to hold a meeting with party vice president Rahul Gandhi, hoping that Patel quota stir hero Hardik Patel, Dalit leader Jignesh Mewani and OBC leader Alpesh Thakor, might swing the poll battle in their favour.

Meanwhile, he rejected allegations of a "sellout" made by other Patel groups, saying "they are not real representatives of Patidars.

Hardik Patel's close aides, have accused the 'quota spearhead' of "spending the community's money on furthering his personal interests" and that "he has been favouring and listening to his distant relative, rather than to his PAAS colleagues."

The Congress is counting on the Patidar votes to sway the election results of Gujarat polls in their favour and uproot the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which has been in power since 1995 in the state.

The polls will be conducted in Gujarat in two phases - December 9 and December 14. The counting of the votes will be held on December 18.

OneIndia News