On a day when Patel quota agitation leader Hardik Patel surfaced under mysterious circumstances in Gujarat, his Bihar unit of Patidar Ananmat Andolan Samiti on Wednesday declared that Mr. Patel will address four rallies in Bihar.
“Our leader Hardik Patel will be addressing four rallies in Bihar to mobilise support for the Kurmis and their reservation under OBS category,” declared Abhishek Katiyar, convener of the Samiti.
He said the rallies will be organised at Bhagalpur, Bhabhua, Nalanda and Muzaffarpur but the dates have not been finalised yet. Mr. Katiyar said such rallies would be organised in 12 States by Mr. Patel and the movement was strictly social in nature. “We’re not going to support or oppose any political party in the upcoming Bihar Assembly election but will strive for the upliftment of our caste,” he said.
Earlier, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, also a Kurmi, had expressed support for Hardik Patel and his movement.
'I was detained by police'
He is likely to be produced before the High Court on Thursday in connection with a habeas corpus petition filed after he went “missing” from a village in north Gujarat when the police went there to arrest him for holding a public meeting without permission.
The plea moved by lawyer B.M. Mangukia was heard at the residence of Justice Shah at 2.30 a.m. on Wednesday. The court directed the police to find and produce Mr. Patel before it by Thursday.
The police started a crackdown on Tuesday night, arresting over a dozen key aides of Mr. Patel. On Wednesday, Nilesh Patel, linked to the Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) that launched the agitation in early July, was arrested and slapped with the charge of sedition for “indecent language against the Prime Minister, the Chief Minister and the BJP president.”
According to the police, Mr. Nilesh Patel, who has been arrested for cyber crime too, sent messages on social media with a view to ‘inciting violence and creating enmity between communities.’
The police have also booked 39 persons associated with OBC Ekta Manch, a counter-agitation launched by the OBC communities, for holding public meetings in north Gujarat. “The government is shaken by the mass support our agitation has drawn and therefore want to crush it,” a PAAS member said.
