Guj Cong organises Patel community gathering

Hundreds of members of the community gathered in Mehasana to attend the function.

Congress has decided to go all out to woo the Patel community, which constitutes around 18 per cent of the state's population, and has been a traditional vote bank of BJP.

Congress has apparently sensed the opportunity this time to attract the Patels after the powerful community leader Keshubhai Patel came out in the open against Narendra Modi government and alleged his community was living under fear in Gujarat.

The Patel community had been largely with Congress after the independence but deserted it after former Congress chief minister Minister Madhavsinh Solanki devised and implemented KHAM (Kshatirya, Harijan, Adivasi and Muslim) formula for Congress.

Congress leader Narhari Amin alleged Modi had taken Patel community's votes and systematically sidelined it from politics.

"He (Modi) has some Patel ministers in his cabinet but they have no say in governance", Amin charged.

Former Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee president Siddarth Patel also alleged that under Modi's rule, the Patel community had been marginalised.

After the event, Congress leaders claimed their first Patel community gathering in Mehasana turned out to be a "huge success".