The Congress reportedly changed its candidates from the Patidar dominated seats of Varachha Road, Kamrej, Junagadh, and Botad at PAAS’s insistence
Even as he announced support for the Congress for the coming elections, Patidar reservation agitation leader Hardik Patel claimed that his outfit PAAS had not sought any ticket from the party, while lashing out at BJP for buying out their conveners.
"An impression is being created that PAAS is fighting for tickets from Congress. We want to make it clear that we haven't sought tickets from anyone. For us, reservation is the only issue. We don't want to weaken our agitation by asking for tickets," Hardik claimed. Asked about the violence PAAS leaders and workers had indulged in after Congress announced its first list of 77 candidates on Sunday, Hardik attributed it to the party allotting tickets to PAAS members without consulting them.
The Congress reportedly changed its candidates from the Patidar dominated seats of Varachha Road, Kamrej, Junagadh, and Botad at PAAS's insistence.
He also denied any differences within the outfit's leaders over the stand on tickets.
Levelling serious allegations at BJP, he said some PAAS members had filed nominations as independent candidates from Patidar dominated seats to divide the community's votes at the party's behest. He also alleged that the BJP was offering Rs50 lakh to its conveners to contest in the polls.
The 23-year-old leader, who has a strong following in the Patel community, especially among youths, said he was opposing BJP as the party had meted out injustice to the community. He also said that while people are talking about Gujarat model, development has not reached villages, where condition of people is still bad. He said PAAS would hold a rally in Rajkot on November 29, in Surat in December first week, and in Chanasma on December 10.
WHAT THEY SAY
- The Congress reportedly changed its candidates from the Patidar dominated seats of Varachha Road, Kamrej, Junagadh, and Botad at PAAS’s insistence.
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 "Hardik Patel")
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