NCP’s Praful Patel meets Patidar stir leaders, comes out in Hardik support

Later, addressing a state-level convention of his party at Town Hall, Praful criticised the BJP government for slapping sedition charge against Hardik, convener of the Samiti, and other leaders of the outfit. With this, NCP became the third prominent political party after AAP and Congress to support Hardik, lodged in jail since October last year.

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“Sedition cases have been slapped on Patidar leaders. This is beyond our comprehension,” he said, adding, “at the same time you (BJP) are hugging Nawaz Sharif and other Pakistani leaders who are enemies of our nation. You are harming the interest of the nation’’.

“But you (BJP) should know that this issue is certainly going to be raised in the forthcoming Assembly elections and you will have to give an account of your deeds to the people,” Praful remarked. The Mumbai-based NCP leader addressed the gathering in Gujarati and also noted that he hailed from Nadiad.

On the quota demand, he said, “It is the responsibility of the government to hold discussions with the Patidar community and solve the issue. The state government’s attitude of ‘my way or highway’ will not work.”

Asserting that it was “the right of every community in a democracy to make demand for their welfare”, he said that like the Jats in Haryana, the Gujjars in Rajasthan and the Marathas in Maharashra, the Patidars in Gujarat were also demanding reservation in government jobs and educational institutions.

He said that though the Supreme Court has fixed a cap of 50 per cent on reservation, there were states where quota has crossed the limit depending upon the local condition. “Originally, there were reservations for SCs and STs only. Then, the OBCs were incorporated in it by amending the Constitution. So, some way can be found to solve the Patidar issue as well,” he said in response to a question.

Announcing to launch ‘Jan Jagaran’ programme for “political parivartan (political change)” in Gujarat in the 2017 elections, the NCP leader said, “We need to offer ourselves as a strong third political alternative to the people of Gujarat.’’

“People are angry with BJP, but they are not happy with Congress either,” he said. “We worked with Congress for 10 years in Delhi and 15 years in Maharashtra, but we can’t remain dependent on Congress. We will strengthen our party on our own.’’