Ahmedabad: After more than three years of agitation, which witnessed the death of over a dozen Patidars and sedition cases against leaders of the agitation, the Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) on Thursday made a formal representation to the Gujarat State OBC Commission, seeking reservation for the community.
The representation comes in the wake of the Maharashtra government passing a bill granting reservation to the Marathas earlier this week.
Speaking to the media after handing over an 11-page letter seeking reservation for the Patidar community, Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti convener Hardik Patel said, “We have handed over a letter to the State OBC Commission seeking reservation for the Patidar community. We are quite confident that our demands will be met. Chairperson of the Commission Sugnaben Bhatt has assured us that she will meet with five representatives of the community after a week and then a decision will be taken.”
Hardik added that after the Maharashtra government passed a bill granting reservation to the Maratha community over and above the existing reservation, there has been a renewed hope among youth of the Patidar community in Gujarat. “We now see light at the end of the dark tunnel. It has been a long fight for reservation and thousands of Patidars have made a lot of sacrifice. The OBC Commission chairperson was positive about our application and told us that reservation for Patidars is possible.”
He further said that it is up to the OBC Commission to carry out surveys and add or delete castes from the OBC category. “Our demand of carrying out a socio economic survey still stands. The situation of the community ought to be studied through a survey. It is the job of the state government to do this. The state government has wilfully avoided doing a survey of the Patidar community in the past,” Hardik alleged.
The state deputy chief minister Nitin Patel said the government will take an appropriate decision after receiving a report from the state OBC commission. “We have learnt that the Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti has made a formal representation to the commission, seeking reservation for the community. Based on the report of the state OBC commission, the state government will take an appropriate decision. We will wait for the commission to give us a report on the representations that have been made,” Nitin Patel said.
Meanwhile, Hardik’s PAAS will meet Paresh Dhanani, leader of opposition in the Gujarat Assembly after two days, and ask the Congress to bring a private member’s bill in the forthcoming assembly session in January for Patidar reservation.
“Prior to the assembly elections, the Congress had said that it will devise a formula for Patidar reservation. It was part of the election manifesto of the party too. We will meet Paresh Dhanani after two days and demand that the formula for Patidar reservation should be introduced by the Congress in the forthcoming assembly session as a private member bill,” said Hardik.
However, political analysts here say that any reservation beyond the existing 49.5 per cent reservation will not stand legal scrutiny and is bound to be struck down by the courts. Political observers believe that the state government, too, is bending backwards as it sees in this an opportunity to win over the disgruntled Patidar community ahead of the Lok Sabha polls next year.
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