Hardik Patel, Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti’s leader told in his statement to the press that defeating BJP in Gujarat was his prime aim and he would even consider supporting Congress in assembly polls to get to his aim. The agitated quota leader said that the government was purposely delaying the issue of reservation to the Patel community under OBC quota.
He even intimidated that if the government did not come up with a firm assurance over the quota issue at the earliest, he would work towards defeating the BJP in the assembly polls, due later this year. The angry spearhead continued in his statement to the press that, the agitation of the Patel community has not cooled down and the government needs to make its stand clear on the reservation issue at the earliest. He further added that if his demands are not fulfilled by the government he will make sure that the BJP party, which is dreaming of winning 150 seats in the polls does not go beyond 80 seats. At present, from the total 182 seats in the state assembly, BJP has 121 seats and Congress has 57 seats.
Hardik Patel also cleared the point that they will not hesitate to support the Congress, if the party promises to fulfill the demands of PAAS after winning the assembly polls. The demands include reservation to Patels under the OBC quota, formation of Patidar Commission, compensation to the families of at least 10 Patel youths who died during the quota violence in 2015 and withdrawal of FIR’s against the agitators.
To carry forward his plan of defeating the BJP, a mega gathering of PAAS workers will be organised on June 11. Around 50,000 workers of the Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti will gather and they will be briefed about the campaigns they need to carry forward across Gujarat in the coming months to defeat BJP.