Gujarat: Hardik Patel demands withdrawal of cases against quota agitators, threatens statewide agitation from March 23

Patel accused the state government of “misleading and fooling” the Patidar community with fake promises of dropping criminal cases against Patidar youth.

“The government can consider this as a plea or a warning.. I leave it on them. During the agitation, lakhs of youth had come on the roads for their demands after which criminal cases were lodged against them including that of sedition. Like me, several youths were imprisoned for two years. When our agitation was going on, questions were raised whether it is being carried out only by one community. However as a result of the agitation, today the Gujarat youth belonging to middle and lower-income groups across all communities are availing 10 per cent reservation and benefits of the Gujarat Unreserved Educational and Economic Development Corporation,” said Patel who lead the agitation demanding the inclusion of the Patidars under the other backward classes (OBC) quota.

“Today there are roughly 200 criminal cases lodged against nearly 5,000 youths of this state who are being forced to run from police stations to court complexes. They cannot apply for government jobs anymore and can longer get passports. I face 32 such criminal cases including sedition,” added Patel.

He added that multiple attempts have been made by the Patidar community to reach out to several chief ministers of Gujarat since the agitation. He also thanked former chief minister Anandiben Patel for withdrawing 140 criminal cases against the agitators. However, despite promises next chief minister Vijay Rupani did not drop a single case, he alleged.

“When Bhupendra Patel was appointed as the CM, a delegation of PAAS met him regarding the cases to which Patel said that a decision will be taken after a month. After that, a delegation of BJP leaders led by MP Ramesh Dhaduk met the CM and made the same request. The BJP government is misleading and fooling the Patidar community,” said Patel.

“If the government thinks that I am making this an issue regarding myself then I request them to drop all other criminal cases out of 200 excluding mine. If there is no action on their behalf before March 23, a statewide agitation will be held,” Patel added.

“From March 1 to March 23, our workers will be sending applications to each district and taluka of Gujarat. From March 10 to March 15, we will seek support from all Patidar MLAs and MPs to support our cause. We will stage dharna in front of the homes of those who will not give us support. We will also hold a conversation with Patidar youth in each district and meet families of those who have been martyred during the agitation,” he said.

“The Gujarat government withdrew cases lodged against the Karni Sena workers during the protests against the movie Padmaavat. Congress governments in Rajasthan and Punjab have taken back criminal cases against youth who had participated in the agitation over there. I appeal to Gujarat BJP president CR Paati to listen to the woes of the Patidar youth,” said Patel.

Reacting to the demands made by Patel, BJP Gujarat co-spokesperson Dr Rutvij Patel said in a video statement: “Hardik Patel and the Congress party have lost their political ground and both have no issues to fight for. This is a political stunt to be in the news. The Patidar community stands strongly with the BJP. We have withdrawn 80 per cent of the cases and about the remaining cases, a delegation of our Patidar MPs under the guidance of CR Paatil met the CM Bhupendra Patel. Cases that can be withdrawn will be withdrawn in the future.”