Hardik Patel slapped during Jan Aakrosh Sabha in Surendranagar; attacker calls Congress leader 'Gujarat's Hitler'

Congress leader Hardik Patel was slapped at a public rally in Gujarat’s Surendranagar district during a ‘Jan Aakrosh Sabha’ on Friday.

#WATCH Congress leader Hardik Patel slapped during a rally in Surendranagar,Gujarat pic.twitter.com/VqhJVJ7Xc4

— ANI (@ANI) April 19, 2019

Visuals from the public meeting show a man walking on the stage and slap Patel while he was addressing the crowd gathered. Patel can be heard asking for people’s blessings in Gujarati when the attack took place. A scuffle ensued on the stage between Patel’s supporters and the man after the incident as the mob tried to apprehend him. According to reports, the man who slapped Patel has been detained by the police.  Congress candidate for the Surendranagar Lok Sabha seat, Soma Patel, was present on the dais when Hardik Patel was assaulted. The attacker, subsequently identified as Tarun Gajjar, explained his actions saying, “My wife was pregnant when Patidar agitation happened, she was undergoing treatment at a hospital, I had faced problems then, I had decided then, I’ll hit this man. I have to teach him a lesson anyhow.” Gajjar was further quoted by ANI as saying, “Then again during his rally in Ahmedabad when I had gone to get medicine for my child, everything was shut down. He shuts down the roads, he shuts down Gujarat whenever he wants to, What is he? Gujarat’s Hitler?”