'Making Narendra Modi PM proved disastrous' says Hardik Patel as alliance with Congress hangs in balance

Voting to make Narendra Modi the prime minister has proven to be disastrous and unsuccessful, Patidar leader Hardik Patel tweeted on Thursday.

However, despite the Patidar leader going against the ruling BJP government in several of his latest statements, there has been no clear indication as to whether his party will join Congress ahead of Gujarat Assembly Election 2017. On Monday, members of the Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) met Gujarat Congress leaders but no agreement could be reached on issue of quotas for the Patels, a precondition set by the PAAS leader for extending support to the party in the Assembly polls. [caption id=“attachment_4181683” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Patidar community leader Hardik Patel. PTI[/caption] After the meeting at the Congress’s state headquarters which lasted three hours, PAAS leaders said they will hold another round of discussion by 7 November to resolve the issue. While Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi is supposed to visit Gujarat on Thursday, rumours have been afloat that he may meet the Patidar leader in Surat on Friday. However, Patel has denied the possibility of any such meeting. Patel, who had given an ultimatum to the Congress to come clear on reservations for his community under the OBC category by 3 November, had said the party had agreed to explore constitutional solutions for the purpose while making firm promises on the community’s other demands. According to News 18, the points of contention like reservations to Patidars in state government jobs and educational institutions remained unsolved. “I am neither against the Congress nor in its favour but am against the BJP’s arrogant and autocratic attitude against the Patidars. We maintain that the Congress should explain us how exactly they would grant reservation under the OBC category,” Patel had said. On Thursday, Hardik Patel met  senior NCP leader Praful Patel to discuss various aspects related to the next month’s Gujarat Assembly polls, NDTV reported. According to NCP leader Rajendra Jain, who is the party’s observer for Gujarat, the discussion largely revolved around exploring possibilities of a united fight against BJP.