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Business News/ Politics / Policy/  Gujarat elections: Rahul Gandhi woos Patels in Saurashtra
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Gujarat elections: Rahul Gandhi woos Patels in Saurashtra

Rahul Gandhi slams Gujarat model of development, invokes Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel in the Patel-dominated Saurashtra region

Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi during his visit to Dwarka in Gujarat on Monday. Photo: PTIPremium
Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi during his visit to Dwarka in Gujarat on Monday. Photo: PTI

Ahmedabad: The race for Patel votes seems to be getting more and more intense as elections draw closer in Gujarat. Both the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Congress are trying to court the community ahead of the assembly elections.

On Tuesday, when Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi slammed the Gujarat development model and invoked India’s first home minister Sardar Vallabhai Patel in the Patidar- or Patel-dominated Saurashtra region, the state’s BJP government held a meeting with Patel Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) convenor Hardik Patel and his supporters.

The meeting, held around 4 pm in Gandhinagar, was attended by chief minister Vijay Rupani and other senior ministers. The outcome of the meeting was not known.

BJP leaders have in the past held several rounds of talks with PAAS members, who are upset with the government for denying their demands for government job and university seat quotas.

On the second day of his three-day campaign trail in Patidar-dominated areas of Gujarat, Gandhi travelled from Jamnagar to Rajkot.

On Monday, PAAS leader Hardik Patel welcomed Gandhi to Gujarat in a tweet.

“I want to tell members of the Patidar community that people from BJP fired bullets at you, but this is not Congress’ way. Our way is to take everyone along with love and feelings of fraternity," Gandhi told a gathering in Saurashtra.

Hitting out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the ‘Statue of Unity’ that is being installed near Kevadia at the Narmada Dam site, he said it was a matter of shame that the statue was being cast in China.

“The Sardar Patel statue will have a ‘Made in China’ tag attached to it. This is a matter of shame..," Gandhi told a gathering in Dhrol village.

Vallabhai Patel, who was from Gujarat, is seen as the tallest leader of the Patidar community. The community, whose members mostly use the surname Patel, constitutes 14% of the state’s population. A large number of Patels are in the Saurashtra region, which accounts for as many as 52 assembly seats.

The Congress vice president criticized the BJP for remote controlling the functioning of the Gujarat government from Delhi and said that the time had come for the state government to be run by farmers, small traders and workers of Gujarat.

Gujarat deputy chief minister Nitin Patel said in a media statement today that pursuant to a meeting with Patel community leaders including PAAS leader Patel, the government has decided to form a commission to work out a plan to give financial assistance to the Patidars.

In a tweet, Hardik Patel said that the Gujarat government has turned down the community’s demand for reservation. While claiming that the Tuesday’ meeting was called to divide the Patel community, Patel said that their fight against the government would continue.

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Published: 26 Sep 2017, 02:30 PM IST
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