Fri. Mar 29th, 2024

The hassle for the Patidar reservations has finally come down to a consensus conclusion between both the Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) and Congress. The Patidar agitation spearhead, Hardik Patel, during a press conference in Ahmedabad pledged his support to Congress to defeat the BJP.

While talking to the reporters during the press conference, Hardik revealed that “Congress has assured quota under Article 31 (C) of the Indian Constitution which guarantees that it will be kept outside the purview of the judiciary. Congress will pass a bill under Article 46 of the Constitution to ensure reservation in education and government jobs to the non-reserved communities.”

According to Article 31(C), the constitution allows the state government make policies to achieve social equality. The policy formed by any state government under Article 31(C) enjoys immunity from judicial scrutiny.

Congress senior leader Kapil Sibal had suggested this option to grant the reservation sought by the Patidars, without disrupting the provisions provided the Constitution of India. After high-level meetings and discussions, the Patidar leader Hardik Patel had announced that the PAAS is content with the option provided by the Congress.

During the press conference, Hardik affirmed that “The existing reservation system which gives 49% reservation to SC, ST, and OBC will remain intact.” Earlier Hardik had demanded 20% reservation to the Patidars under the OBC category, however, that was not possible without playing around with the 49% cap allocated by the Constitution. Therefore to reach to a middle way Congress had suggested to the reservation under the “special category”, to which Hardik agreed after much convincing.

When questioned if he was sure that the Congress will keep up with its word if the party comes to power? Hardik replied that they will have to keep their promise, they do not have another choice. He also added that “We have asked Congress that if they come to power then they must pass a bill within a month…Congress will have to put this reservation formula in details, in their manifesto.”

Answering the query of the whether the Patidars will back Congress in the upcoming assembly polls, the Patidar leader said that “I have always said that I want to defeat the BJP. It clearly implies the Congress stands to gain. We will extend support to Congress directly and indirectly.”

Hardik Patel also spoke about the recent outbreak between the PAAS and the Congress over the distribution of tickets. He said that “We did not seek any tickets from Congress. We had just asked them to give tickets to good candidates. In Surat, it was a spontaneous protest by the people to seek tickets for good candidates.”

The announcement made by the Patidar agitation spearhead has only left the BJP all the more anxious. Reacting to the Hardik’s support to Congress, Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel termed the quota offer as “one made by fools and accepted by fools to befool Patidars.” He also accused Hardik of parroting the script given by Congress and added that “The apex court has repeatedly struck down quota above the 50% cap and hence the formula accepted by Hardik will not benefit the Patel community.”

Nitin Patel also questioned that why Hardik agreed to the quota under the special category, whereas the original demand was for reservation under the OBC quota.

Responding to the comments of Deputy Chief Minister, the Congress eagle Kapil Sibal mocked that “I want to ask the BJP if they know anything about the Constitution.” He also thanked Hardik Patel for declaring his support to the Congress for the Gujarat assembly elections and added that together they will give a united tough fight to the BJP and dethrone them.

Though the PAAS is content with the reservation option given by the Congress two key religious trusts of the community – Umiyadham of Kadva Patels and Khodaldham of Leuva sect have still not said anything regarding their support to Congress.

Paresh Gajera, trustee of Khodaldham in Kagvad of Rajkot district, said that “the trust’s legal team will analyze the quota formula. Only after a thorough analysis of the constitutional aspect of the new quota formula, will we support the demand for quota.”

The Congress is depending a lot on the support of the Patidars to add to the magical number that they need to end their political exile of 22 years in Gujarat. The assembly elections in Gujarat will be held in two phases, on 9 and 14 Dec. The results of Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh elections will simultaneously be announced on 18 Dec.