AHMEDABAD: Hardik Patel, the 23-year-old leader who spearheaded the Patidar quota agitation in Gujarat in 2015, is set to return to the state on Tuesday after a six-month exile imposed by the Gujarat High Court which granted him bail in two sedition cases.
The Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS), which he spearheaded, has planned a grand rally to welcome Hardik, who camped in Udaipur under police protection for six months after he was granted bail in July last year.
“We have planned a massive rally to welcome Hardik in Himatnagar in north Gujarat. The rally will mark the second round of our agitation to demand quota and OBC status in the state,” Varun Patel, a senior member of the PAAS, told The Hindu.
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Mr. Patel is also scheduled to meet former chief minister Keshubhai Patel in Gandhinagar to discuss the contentious issue of quote for Patidars under the OBC category. “Hardik will go to meet Keshubhai to seek his blessings,” Mr. Patel said.
“We held two meetings with Gujarat ministers to resolve the issue and get justice for the Patidar community but the government is yet to prepare its mind on our main demand of OBC quota,” Mr. Patel added.
The Patidar leader claimed that more than 50,000 people, mostly youngsters from the community, will participate in the rally in Himatnagar, which is the first major town near the Gujarat-Rajasthan border.
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Ahead of the Assembly polls in the state, scheduled to be held in December 2017, Hardik and his aides, who have emerged as the main challenge for the ruling BJP, will be travelling extensively in order to garner the community's support on their demand for quota.