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Kejri woos influential, disgruntled Patidars
AHMEDABAD: Amid a mixed response of reception and protest, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal sounded the assembly poll bugle in Gujarat’s Mehsana district, the
AHMEDABAD: Amid a mixed response of reception and protest, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal sounded the assembly poll bugle in Gujarat’s Mehsana district, the heartland of the Patidar quota protests that have rocked the state and hurt the ruling BJP in local body elections.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief had chanted slogans of “Jai Patidar, Jai Sardar” on Friday night to woo the influential community that is increasingly disgruntled with the state government over a demand for other backward class status.
He continued to reach out to the community on Saturday as he offered prayers at Maa Umiya temple in Unjha, which is the deity of the Kadva Patidars and also met two families that lost their sons in police firing on protesters in August 2015, in which 13 Patidar youths were killed.
Speaking at Mehsana, Kejriwal pressed for the arrest of the ‘neta’ who had ordered the firing.
“An officer would not issue firing orders. This will be given by a leader only. The leader should be jailed,” Kejriwal said.
Although his demand for the “leader’s” arrest was welcomed by a section of the Patidars, the Delhi chief minister also encountered protest from members of the community who called his visit a “political stunt” ahead of the 2017 assembly elections.
Around 10 protesters were detained by the Ahmedabad police for staging an agitation at Ghatlodia, where Kejriwal had gone to meet the family of late Nimish Patel.
Patidar quota agitation leader Hardik Patel also wrote a letter to the Delhi chief minister , appealing to raise his voice from the national capital in favour of the community.
Meanwhile, Patidar group Sardar Patel Sevadal demanded an explanation from the Delhi chief minister as to why the Patidars should support his party. The group asked Kejriwal to explain what his party intended to do to fulfil quota demand if it is voted to power in Gujarat.
Kejriwal chose to remain silent on the question. His three-day trip is considered an attempt to woo the Patidars, a key vote bank of the BJP for three decades. The saffron party had rejected the Patidar’s demand for an OBC status after which disgruntled community members disrupted party chief Amit Shah’s event in Surat.
