Quota agitation: Patels denied Riverfront as venue for rally

The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation today refused to allow the leaders of Patel community to hold a mega-rally at Sabarmati Riverfront here on August 25 as part of their agitation for reservations under the OBC category.
"They wanted to rent the Sabarmati Riverfront for agitation, but as per our policy framed in April, we only lease it for cultural/social functions, exhibitions, government functions, marriages and get-togethers," said municipal commissioner D Thara.
"We do not rent it out for agitations and they have specifically demanded the venue for agitation," Thara told PTI.
"When we decided this policy we had this very clear in our mind that it should be used only for the public purposes," she added.

Around 25 lakh people are supposed to gather for the August 25 mega-rally.
Ketan Patel, one of the leaders of agitators, said they will hold the rally at the river-front nonetheless.
"It is not right on the part of the authorities to deny us the venue a few days before the rally. All the preparations have been made and we cannot go back from here. The rally will be held at the Riverfront only," Patel told reporters.