Gujarat elections 2017: Dy CM slams Congress and Hardik Patel

Deputy Chief Minister and senior leader of BJP Nitin Patel slammed the Congress and Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) leader Hardik Patel saying that Hardik cheated his community by accepting the Congress formula. He also alleged that Hardik did not take his community into confidence before announcing his stand to support the Congress.

Patel said, "The Congress has given Hardik a soiled lollipop for the reservation quota and he is licking it now. In fact, Hardik kept the Patel community in the dark and fixed the deal with the Congress in the name of reservation. We have received letters from religious institutes of the Patel community and they said that Hardik did not inform them about his final call."

"Khodaldham trustee Naresh Patel and President in Umiya mata Sansthan in Unjha, Vikram Patel informed us in writing that Hardik Patel never approached them before announcing his support to the Congress. This shows that Hardik is cheating the community," he added.

Patel also added that the formula for reservation that Hardik Patel and the Congress had endorsed was fickle and not maintainable before any legal forum. He said, "We approached different legal experts and they informed us that the formula given by the Congress for reservation is not maintainable before any legal forum and can be set aside if the same is challenged. They also informed us that Congress leader Kapil Sibal had firmly admitted before the court as a lawyer during the hearing of the cases related to reservations that it could not be more than 50 per cent in any case."