Govt agrees to Maha rally in Ahmedabad
In what can be said to be a moral victory for agitating Patels, the Gujarat Government has given permission to hold the Maha rally in Ahmedabad on August 25.
Though Patels have demanded space at the Sabarmati Riverfront, Ahmedabad Police have given permission for another venue — Gujarat Mineral Development Corporation (GMDC) ground. Ketan lalitbhai Patel, one of the Patel leaders agitating for reservation benefits for the community under OBC category had applied for permission to organise the rally at GMDC Ground which was granted by the local police.
Talking to The Pioneer, convener of Patel Anamat Andolan Samiti Hardik Patel claimed the police had given permission for both the venue — Sabarmati Riverfront as well as GMDC Ground on Thursday and the agitating community leaders would take the final decision on the venue on Friday. Various organisation of the Patel community across the State have mobilised their resources to show their strength at the Maha rally and according to Hardik Patel nearly 30 lakh people will congregate on Tuesday.
However, official sources in the police said that they had given permission for GMDC Ground to hold the rally and in the case of Sabarmati Riverfront only parking of vehicles would be allowed. As part of precautionary measures, Gujarat Police have cordoned the riverfront area to avoid any untoward incident ahead of the rally.
The proposed rally will begin at around 11.30 am and will be addressed by nine speakers. After the public rally Patidars (Patels) will walk 5 km from the venue of the community meeting to the Collector’s office and give memorandum to the District Magistrate.
larger numbers of NRIs from the community have declared support to the reservation movement.
OBCs unite against Patels
As Patidar agitation is getting momentum in the State, a group of those communities who are already enjoying OBC status have convened a meeting at Rajkot and formed OBC Samarthan Samiti.
“In the meeting we decided to kick-start agitation against the government in case Patels would be included in OBC category,” said Hasmukh Solanki, chairman of the OBC Samarthan Samiti. According to Solanki, they wouldn’t object if Patels will be given reservation benefits separately in lines with Tamil Nadu Government.
As per Mandal Commission 146 castes have been included under OBC category and they are enjoying 27 per cent reservation.