Members of Patel community resorted to arson, stone-pelting and vandalism after brief detention of their 22-year-old leader Hardik Patel, following which curfew was on Tuesday night imposed in three towns of North Gujarat and some areas of Surat.
Hardik Patel's family was put under house arrest and seven women from the community were detained on Thursday for sloganeering and demanding his immediate release.
Hardik Patel, 22, who was briefly detained over his hunger strike to demand Other Backward Class reservation for the Patel community, called for a state-wide bandh on Wednesday to intensify the agitation.
As the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party battle it out for the Gujarat elections, scheduled to be held in two phases on November 9 and 15, Rediff Labs analyses which political leader has been making the most buzz.
Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah along with Chief Minister Vijay Rupani and other party leaders were booed off stage as the members of Hardik Patel's Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti created ruckus and vanadalised furniture at a programme to felicitate Patel leaders in Surat.
The statement comes in the aftermath of the Gujarat CM Anandiben Patel's resignation.
It was a night of carnage in parts of Gujarat on Tuesday.
Patel had made a political speech in violation of a government order at a village in the district ahead of the 2017 Gujarat assembly elections.
As per the will, Hardik has Rs 50,000 in his bank account, of which Rs 20,000 will go to his parents and the rest to a Panjrapole near his native village in Gujarat.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said that the recent Gujarat violence over the quota issue had upset the entire nation and asked the people to work together to resolve all problems through development.
While AAP blamed the Bharatiya Janata Party, the saffron party has rejected the allegations against them and said they have nothing to do with such banners.
The Gujarat police on Tuesday detained Sardar Patel Group head Lalji Patel in connection with violence during "jail bharo" agitation of Patidar community held last month.
'I have always said that Hardik worked for his own interest and not for the cause of the Patidars.' 'People didn't believe what I was saying then, but now the entire community believes what I have always said.'
Hardik Patel, who is leading the Patel quota stir, was on Saturday detained by police along with 35 of his supporters ahead of his Ekta March in Surat with the Gujarat administration following it up by imposing a ban on mobile Internet services across the state.
Convener of the Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti, Hardik Patel's clarification came a day after some Patel leaders announced they were planning to contest the upcoming local body polls.
Hardik had begun his fast, demanding reservation for Patidars under the OBS category.
While Patel alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party government in the state had denied permission as it was trying to thwart his agitation, the police said it was done keeping in mind the law-and-order situation since such protests had led to violence and arson in the past.
Hardik and 50 members of his Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti got their heads shaved as a mark of protest.
A team worked together. Today, there is no such team, said Sinha.
The 22-year-old leader will stay at a house owned by former Congress member of legislative assembly and local Patel leader Pushkarlal Patel in Udaipur for the period.
Solanki, on his part, confirmed the Congress had the backing of the PAAS, adding they had come to agreement on numerous issues with the Patidar leaders, which would be announced soon.
'60% now, 40 % the next day,' BJP leader is purportedly heard telling Patel in the clip.
Hardik Patel and others are accused of ransacking the office of Visnagar MLA Rishikesh Patel during the protest rally of the Patidar community in July 2015.
Chief Minister Anandiben Patel, state BJP chief R C Faldu, 37 members of the assembly and six ministers are Patels.
Hardik and around four of his supporters were detained when he was going to the cricket stadium in the attire of a farmer.
'I warn them of such tactics because hundreds of Hardiks will be born if one is killed because our fight for justice has been accepted by the Patidar community.'
Patel quota agitation leader Hardik Patel has again postponed his 'reverse Dandi March', scheduled for Sunday, to September 15, claiming that he has been invited by a Cabinet minister for a meeting with the state chief minister on the issue.
The BJP, however, rejected the Congress's tirade as a "chorus of baseless allegations" and insisted that previous governments, including the UPA, had also scheduled sessions after state polls as politicians are busy in campaign.
Patel said that the video has been released to malign his image in the light of the upcoming elections in the state.
Gujarat government on Saturday denied permission to Hardik Patel's "reverse Dandi march" over the Patel quota issue, less than a fortnight after violence erupted during his stir claiming 10 lives, but the defiant leader vowed to carry out the protest programme on Sunday.
Hundreds of Patel community youths welcomed Hardik as he entered his home state through the Ratanpur border.
SPG chief and quota agitation leader Lalji Patel has been arrested by Mehsana police in connection with the "jail bharo" agitation which had turned violent on April 17.
In an open message to Shah, which he shared on the social media, Patel said the agitation will not stop just because the BJP chief wanted it to.
On the eve of Patidars' meeting with the Gujarat government, Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti leader Varun Patel speaks to Rediff.com's Prasanna D Zore.
However, another quota agitation body Sardar Patel Group welcomed the government's move, but said they will assess how it will help Patel community and up to what extent.
The meeting was to know how the party plans to grant reservation to Patidars if voted to power in the upcoming assembly polls in Gujarat.
The police will conduct a voice spectrography test on Patel quota stir leader Hardik Patel, who along with five associates, is facing charges of sedition and "waging war" against the Gujarat government, officials said on Sunday.
With time on his side, that Hardik Patel will one day occupy the top spot in Gujarat is a no-brainer. But the BJP doesn't like rabble-rousers.
'The BJP's target could be the Kolis, Thakors and other numerically strong OBC communities to negate the shift of the Patel vote bank.'
Surat -- Gujarat's diamond city and the epicentre of the Patidar quota movement -- is set for a tough assembly poll battle as the Congress has added the face of the Patidar agitation Hardik Patel to its arsenal this time.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances