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Coming Soon - Hardik Patel’s Indefinite Fast For Reservation
Hardik Patel, convener of Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti, during a press conference. (Ravi Choudhary/Hindustan Times via Getty Images)
Renewing his demand for job reservations, Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) convener Hardik Patel has announced that he will be sitting on an indefinite fast from 25 August.
Addressing the media in Ahmedabad, Patel claimed that his proposed agitation has the support of Samajwadi Party chief and former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister (CM) Akhilesh Yadav, West Bengal CM Mamta Banerjee and Rashtriya Janata Dal scion and former Bihar Deputy CM Tejasvi Yadav. Patel also claimed that leaders of Jat and Gujjar communities, who are demanding reservation for their own communities, will be visiting the venue to express their solidarity for the reservation demand.
In what clearly seems a confrontational strategy, Patel indicated that he will go ahead with his show of strength in Nikol beginning 25 August even if the local administration refuses to provide him permission for using the venue.
It was on the same day three years back (2015) that Hardik mobilised over two lakhs Patidars in the GMDC ground in Ahmedabad. His arrest the same night sparked large scale violence, catapulting the then little-known 22-year-old activist as the face of Patidars' fight for reservation.
Despite a section of national media pitchforking him into the limelight and his overt support to Congress party in its attempt to overthrow the BJP government in Gujarat, Patel’s Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) has lost its momentum. It has been hit by desertion as several key lieutenants of Patel, including Reshma Patel, Varun Patel, Chirag Patel, Dinesh Bambhania and Amris Patel, left him in the run-up to the 2017 Gujarat assembly elections.
In another setback, Patel has been sentenced to two years imprisonment and fined Rs 50,000 by a court in Visnagar for indulging in vandalism during the violent protests in 2015. The court found Hardik Patel and two of his associates guilty of resorting to arson and creating a ruckus at the office of BJP legislator Rushikesh Patel in Visnagar. Patel has since secured a bail in this case of criminal offence.
In an attempt to project himself as a farmer leader, Patel will also be including a demand for farm loan waiver as part of the agitation.
Patel has also been attempting to broaden his geographic footprint by frequently making forays to Madhya Pradesh. Observers see this as an attempt to queer the pitch for the ruling BJP, which will be seeking re-election for a fourth term in the upcoming assembly election. Like in Gujarat, the Patidar community of Madhya Pradesh has been staunchly supporting BJP and observers believe that Patel has been deployed by the Congress party to make inroads into BJP support base
Patel has been touring the State under the banner of the Kisan Kranti Sena (KSS) that he heads.
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