Patidar organisations dub Hardik's reservation demand as 'misleading'

Six social organisations of the Patidar community have slammed Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) convenor Hardik Patel's demand seeking reservation for Patidars under the OBC category.

The heads of the six organisations have come on the front foot against the Patidar leader's demand to include the Patels in the OBC and give reservation to the community for education and jobs.

The leaders of these organisations alleged that Hardik is misleading the society in the name of reservation. They also alleged that Hardik is taking political advantage of this demand.

The organisations that are opposing Hardik's demand, include Umiya Mata Sanstha from Unjh, Khodaldham Kagwad in Rajkot, Vishwa Umiya Foundation, Samast Patidar Samaj in Surat, Umiya Mataji Mandir in Sidsar and Sardar Dham in Ahmedabad.

Hardik's reservation demand has come on the heels of the upcoming assembly election in Gujarat, wherein the Congress party is trying to woo the Patidar community.

Earlier, Hardik had met the Congress leaders to discuss the reservation demand and gave deadline to the party to clear its stance on his demand till November 7.

The Congress Party had, however, said that it will make a decision after consulting the matter with legal experts.

The Congress is counting on the Patidar votes to sway the election results of Gujarat polls in their favour and uproot the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which has been in power since 1995 in the state.

The polls will be conducted in Gujarat in two phases.The polling for the first phase will be held on December 9 and for the second phase on December 14.

The counting of the votes will be held on December 18.