To give a further push to their ongoing agitation for inclusion of their community in the OBC category, Patidars or Patels will on Monday take out a mega rally in Amreli, the district where sentiments are already whipped up due to agitation of Congress over flood relief. The local leaders of Saradar Patel Group (SPG) have given a call for general strike in Amreli for Monday and asked students to boycott classes. They have also asked businessmen to keep their shutters down as well as requesting government servants to go on leave en mass. [related-post] "The issue of reservation very much concerns education of children of Patidars. Therefore, we have asked students not to attend their school-college for a day. We have also appealed government servants to go on leave for a day while also requesting businessmen to keep their shops shut at least for half day," Haresh Bavishi, convenor of Samast Amreli Jilla Patidar Samaj, a sub-group formed as district unit of SPG, said on Sunday. The rally will start from Sarathi Complex on Liliya Road, will pass through Rajkamal Chowk before reaching the collector office at around 11:30. The rally comes at a time when Congress MLA Paresh Dhanani has been holding demonstrations in talukas of Amreli saying the Rs300 crore relief package announced by state government for those affected by flash flood of June 24 is grossly insufficient and has termed it as an insult to the victims. However, Dinesh Bambharoliya, also a convener of Samast Amreli Jilla Patidar Samaj said theirs will be an apolitical rally. "There is no proposal from Congress supporting our rally nor have we invited leaders from any political party to join the rally. It is open to public and anybody can take part in it," said Bambharoliya. Amreli is dominated by Patidar community and the MLA is also a Patidar. The agitation had started last month in North Gujarat with Patidars, the traditional landowners, demanding OBC status since, they reason, their children are losing out on the front of government jobs and admissions to educational institutes due to reservations benefits to other communities. Patels, who are chiefly agriculturalists and industrialists are politically and economically influential in the state.
