Thu. Mar 28th, 2024

On Monday morning there were rumors that Patidar leader Hardik Patel met Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi behind the closed doors of a five-star hotel in Ahmedabad. It was also said that Patel also held meetings with Gujarat Congress in charge Ashok Gehlot and Gujarat Congress president Bharatsinh Solanki to discuss the issues affecting the Patidar community.

Hours after the rumor was spread, Patidar leader Dinesh Patel, denied of any such meeting, saying that Hardik will meet Rahul when Gandhi visits Gujarat from 1-3 November.

As per the latest updates, on 24 Oct, scenes from leaked CCTV footage purportedly showing Hardik meeting Rahul in a five-star-hotel were all over the local Gujarati TV channels and a day later on 25 Oct on all the mainstream news channels.

The five CCTV footage that are being splashed on the news channels shows Hardik Patel entering The Ummed in Ahmedabad, the hotel where both Rahul and AICC member in-charge of Gujarat, Ashok Gehlot, were staying. As per the footage, Hardik entered the hotel late in the night on Monday and left on Tuesday morning.

After the footage was leaked, Hardik remained firm on his point like earlier, denying that he met Rahul Gandhi. Earlier also in his statement to the press, he had said that he did not have any meeting with the Congress Vice-President. On Wednesday, after the camera footage were all over the media, the infuriated Patel said that he did not meet Rahul, although met some Congress leaders. He also added that he would file a case against the hotel for “leaking the CCTV footage.

In his statement to the media, Hardik said that “I have not met Rahul Gandhi, but I met Ashok Gehlot and Gujarat Congress president Bharatsinh Solanki to discuss the issues affecting the Patidar community, including OBC quota. When I meet Rahul Gandhi, I will let the entire country know. Had I met Rahul, I would have met him in public, which would give me more mileage. Why should I meet Rahul secretly?”

He further clarified that the Congress leaders had invited him to meet them but he was busy at the rally in Mahisagar district. He said that he reached the hotel very late at around 3 am and met Ashok Gehlot and discussed the concerns and demands of the Patidars. It was very late by the time the meeting ended and hence he stayed at the hotel only for the night and left in the morning.

Taking a jibe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi he also said that “It is absolutely wrong that I met Rahul Gandhi. I will meet when he comes next. And if I want to meet him, I don’t have to do so secretly. I am not meeting a terrorist, or meeting Nawaz Sharif at midnight like Narendra Modi.”

During his statement to the press, Hardik also alleged that Gujarat was the “Surveillance Republic of India”. Lashing out at the BJP government in Gujarat for keeping an eye on Patel and leaking camera footage the Patidar leader said that “It is scary that the government wants to monitor what we eat, what we wear, whom we meet and where we go. Can nobody have a personal life any longer?”

He then also declared that, although till now he had not met Rahul Gandhi but now he was announcing that in the near future he will be holding a meeting with the Congress leader, in case the Gujarat government wanted to begin monitoring him further. He further added that “I went to the hotel because I wanted clarity before I meet Rahul Gandhi. I sought that clarity from Ashok Gehlot. The government leaked my visit, claiming I had struck a deal with the Congress .”

“This is India, not North Korea. I have a right to fight for a cause. I have a right to meet people I want. It is sad that instead of monitoring criminal activities and law and order, Gujarat government is wasting its police to spy on me,” the agitated Patel said.

Responding to the recent events and the leakage of the CCTV footage, Ashok Gehlot alleged that BJP was conducting surveillance and condemned it. In a string of tweets, he accused the BJP government in Gujarat of spying on Congress.

Meanwhile, Vikram Singh Shekhawat, chief security officer of the hotel denied any rooms being searched, however, he agreed that the CCTV footage was given to the police on being demanded by them. He said that the police had asked for the footage and after consulting the top management, the footage was provided to them for security reasons.