Ahmedabad: The Congress has accepted Patidars’ demand for reservation if elected to power, Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) leader Hardik Patel said on Wednesday.
“The Congress has agreed to give Patidars reservation under Section 31 and provisions of Section 46,'' Patel told journalists in Ahmedabad. It has agreed to give Other Backward Classes (OBC) equivalent benefits to those not entitled to quotas in jobs and education.
“The Congress has agreed to put our quota demand and their formula in the manifesto. I have asked Congress leaders to not make any promise that they can’t fulfil. All promises made in the manifesto have to be honoured,” he said.
Patel, however, refrained from pledging his support to the Congress. “Our primary goal is to get quota for Patidars and to achieve that, we first have to defeat the BJP,” he said.
PAAS members vandalise Congress offices
Two days back when the Congress announced its first list of candidates for the Gujarat Assembly elections, PAAS members reportedly vandalised Congress offices in several places as only two of its members found place in the list.
“We have never asked for a ticket from the Congress, neither have we done any deal with that party,” Patel said.
He termed ''pact with Congress'' a “baseless story.” “The BJP has created this baseless story. The PAAS is not for politics. It’s a social movement,” he said.
Patel claimed that the BJP had earmarked Rs. 200 crore to break the PAAS and sponsor some independent candidates to divide the Patidar votes. “The BJP has always used Patidars for votes. It has only lollipops for Patidars.” He also claimed the ruling party offered Rs. 1200 crore to the PAAS to withdraw its agitation. “ I refused that and instead continued the agitation. I preferred to go to jail,” he said.
'Hardik speaking Congress language'
Gujarat Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel played down the ''pact'' between the Congress and the PAAS. “Some fools have offered the formula and other fools have accepted it,” he commented. On Mr. Hardik Patel's allegations against the BJP, he said: "Hardik is speaking the Congress language and is reading its script."
On November 20, the PAAS workers protested against Congress Party in Ahmedabad and Surat, expressing dismay over the ticket distribution for the assembly polls.
Following the release of Congress' list of candidates, which includes only three PAAS candidates, angry leaders of the community staged the protest.
On that note, the Patidars constitute 16 percent of the state population and play an important role in swinging the voters' mood. 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.
