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.
Kejriwal, on a four-day visit to Gujarat, is widely seen to be in the poll-bound state to woo the numerously strong Patel community to gain foothold in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's home turf.
Patel told Congress to clear their stand on Patidar quota by November 3.
'The BJP's target could be the Kolis, Thakors and other numerically strong OBC communities to negate the shift of the Patel vote bank.'
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.
"We have learnt that a Surat-based builder who is a BJP supporter and another person are behind these morphed clips. They did it at the behest of the Gujarat chief minister (Vijay Rupani) and the state BJP unit president Jitu Vaghani to tarnish Hardik's image ahead of the polls to save the BJP," PAAS convener Dinesh Bambhania alleged.
'Other communities are also equally frustrated, but they have not been able to put up a front so far. Now a wind of change is blowing,' says Gujarat Congress leader Arjun Modhwadia.
Hardik Patel, the 21-year-old politician who has been grabbing headlines as leader of the 40-day agitation by the Patel Community, addressed a massive rally in Ahmedabad on Tuesday where he demanded reservations under the Other Backward Caste quota for the community.
"I like Rahul Gandhi at a personal level, but I do not consider him as a leader because he is not my leader," Patel also said at an event.
Chirag and Ketan asked Hardik to stop 'boasting' only about his 'imprisonment' or else they would reveal some of the 'darkest secrets' related to the agitation.
A threat issued by the Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti or Patel agitation could affect the game temporarily
Addressing AAP's first rally in the state, Kejriwal said BJP and Congress were like "husband and wife" and alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress leader Ahmed Patel work "in unison".
Narendra Patel also showed bundles of cash that he said were handed over to him, at a late-night press conference on Sunday.
Days after being sworn into office, Nitin Patel is yet to take charge of the portfolios allotted to him.
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.
He will meet Uddhav Thackeray at his home and address Gujaratis all over the city.
Two days after two of his former associates accused him of using the Patidar quota agitation as a "tool to nurture his leadership ambition", Hardik Patel on Wednesday hit back saying his detractors were "playing into the hands of some in the Bharatiya Janata Party government in Gujarat who were trying to weaken the protest" by maligning his image.
Patel community leader Hardik Patel was arrested in Surat tonight for defying prohibitory orders clamped ahead of his 'Ekta March' for reservation under OBC quota but was freed on bail by a court soon afterwards.
Prasanna Zore/ Rediff.com talk to members of the Patel community to find out why they are dissatisfied with the state of affairs.
Amid tight security, the funeral of a 32-year-old man from Patel community, who allegedly died in custody after being caught by police during the quota violence, was held in Ahmedabad on Sunday.
Curfew was clamped in Mehsana town in Gujarat and mobile internet service banned on Sunday as a massive rally of the Patel community demanding reservation.
Patel quota agitation leader Hardik Patel's police custody was on Sunday extended by two more days till November 3 by an Ahmedabad court in an alleged case of sedition and waging war against the government.
The quota stir by Patels has led to the emergence of new leaders on the political scene of Gujarat.
'By the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, they moved back to the BJP almost totally and later their backing helped us win the local body elections.'
The transformation of the Modi-Shah baiting Hardik Patel into saffron poster boy.
The court observed that 10 per cent reservation for poor among the unreserved category takes the total quota beyond 50 per cent, which is not permitted as per the SC's earlier decision.
Mevani, after his meeting with the Gandhi scion, said he would ask his community members to defeat the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in the Gujarat polls.
Hardik Patel, the face of Patel quota stir in Gujarat, has announced plans for a nation-wide agitation seeking reservation for nearly "27 crore people" of various communities including Gujjars and Kurmis.
Chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan's task is to live down the hype and address the nitty-gritty, reports Radhika Ramaseshan.
The Patels of Gujarat are seething and they have warned Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Anandiben Patel of consequences if their demands for reservations are not met.
Patel quota leader Hardik Patel on Tuesday returned to Gujarat after spending six months away from his home state and launched a second round of agitation by appealing to Patels to unitedly fight against prevailing "autocracy" in the state, an oblique reference to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.
'But in 2024, the people of India will throw him out of power as the contradictions in him will be apparent.'
The BJP has managed to retain its lead in all the six municipal corporations -- Ahmedabad, Surat, Rajkot, Vadodara, Jamangar and Bhavnagar -- which went to polls last month.
The Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti leader said that reservation formula given by the Congress for his community will be over and above the 50 per cent quota for the Schedule Tribes, Schedule Castes and Other Backward Class.
'Let reservations be decided on the basis of the economic status of a family or person.' 'Give 30 per cent reservations to those whose yearly income is below Rs 200,000, and the remaining 19 per cent to those whose family's annual income is between Rs 200,000 and Rs 400,000.'
A total of 89 seats -- out of 182 -- spanning the Saurashtra and south Gujarat regions, are up for grabs in the first phase with 977 candidates in the fray, including Chief Minister Vijay Rupani.
Hardik Patel, who was leading the Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti, demanding Other Backward Class reservation for the Patel community, has been detained by the police in Ahmedabad on Tuesday. He was later released.
'He is just a 22 year old who has no knowledge of India's laws or Constitution. How will such a man handle a discussion on reservations in an intelligent, lawful manner?' 'Let me alert everybody that he is using the 1985 formula. Back then they opposed reservations based on caste for OBCs and now they want to be included in the same category. This clearly tells us what their intention is. They don't want reservations; they want reservations to be cancelled altogether.'
He alleged that the Congress was 'deceiving' the people over the issue of reservation, while the agitators were lining up for poll tickets.
Successor Anandiben Patel isn't having an easy time, with a protest movement by her own community and new challenges in keeping the mandate
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