Congress promises EBC quota as Hardik plays hardball
AHMEDABAD: The Congress promised on Saturday to offer reservation in jobs and education to Gujarat’s influential Patidars in the economically backward class (EBC) category, but not in the other backward class (OBC) group as demanded by the community. The party’s stand opens the possibility of endangering its likely alliance with Patidar leader Hardik Patel, a bitter critic of the BJP government in the state going to the polls in two phases this December.
AHMEDABAD: The Congress promised on Saturday to offer reservation in jobs and education to Gujarat’s influential Patidars in the economically backward class (EBC) category, but not in the other backward class (OBC) group as demanded by the community.
The party’s stand opens the possibility of endangering its likely alliance with Patidar leader Hardik Patel, a bitter critic of the BJP government in the state going to the polls in two phases this December.
Patel threatened to disrupt Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi’s rally in Surat on November 3 if the reservation in the OBC category wasn’t assured. The threat coincides with comments from the Congress’s Gujarat unit chief, Bharatsinh Solanki, in an interview to Hindustan Times that his party would give EBC reservation to the Patidars.
The Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) core committee passed a resolution on Saturday, warning the Congress to promise the OBC quota or face consequences. “They should tell us how they can include Patidars in existing 27% OBC quota in Gujarat,” said Dinesh Bambania, the group’s co-convener along with Patel. The committee authorised Bambania to declare the group’s stand after Patel threatened in a tweet to disrupt the Congress vice president’s rally unless the party cleared its position on reservation.
The 24-year-old Patel said on Thursday he would support the Congress in the polls as he has been assured by senior Congress leader Ashok Gehlot of providing reservation under the OBC quota. “I am sure he (Gandhi) will promise OBC status if the Congress is voted to power in Gujarat,” he had said.
The Congress’s latest stand on reservation is viewed as a balancing act between Patidars and Alpesh Thakor, a Dalit leader who recently joined the party and opposes OBC reservation to Patel’s community.