Hardik Patel's father declares support for Congress in local polls

 Patel quota agitation leader Hardik Patel's father Bharat Patel on Saturday said that the Patel community will support opposition Congress in coming elections to the local bodies in Gujarat.

"We will support Congress as this (BJP) government and the police have committed atrocities on my son," Bharat Patel said. "We are with Congress this time," he told reporters in Sabarkantha district after attending a Congress event where Congress's MLA from Bayad Mahendrasinh Vaghela was also present. "The Patel community is with Hardik and they will show this in the elections," he said.

Hardik is currently in police custody in connection with a sedition case here. Bharat Patel has moved the High Court to get the cases against his son quashed. Elections to six municipal corporations are slated for November 22. Polling will be held for 31 district panchayats, 230 taluka panchayats and 56 municipalities on November 29. Patel community had been a loyal supporter of BJP in the state in the past.