Ahmedabad: Patidar agitation leader Hardik Patel took to Twitter to warn the Congress that if it did not make its stand clear on the reservation issue by November 3, it would face a similar protest as had BJP president Amit Shah. Hardik tweeted in Hindi and said, “3/11/2017 tak congress patidar ko samvedhanik aarakshan kaise degi, uss mudde par apna stand clear kar de nahin toh Amit Shah jaisa mamla Surat mein hoga” (The Congress party should make their stand clear about how will they give reservation as per the constitution (to Patidars), before November 3 2017, else it will face the same fate as Amit Shah, in Surat.)
On November 3 evening, the Congress has organized a public meeting of Rahul Gandhi at Jal Kranti Maidan A K road in Varachha. Hardik is also in Surat on the same day and the Congress party is trying to bring him to the public meeting. However, Hardik has demanded clarity on the party’s position on reservation by then.
On September 8 last year, at an event to felicitate Patidar leaders where chief minister Vijay Rupani and Shah were present, Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) members disrupted the event and threw chairs as Shah spoke and shouted “Hardik, Hardik,” (Hardik Patel was then in Udaipur serving a bail condition) and “Jai Sardar, Jai Patidar”.
Talking to the Indian Express, Surat PAAS convener Dharmik Malaviya said, “We are very much with Hardik on his statement on twitter. The Congress party is organizing public meeting of Rahul Gandhi in the patidar dominated area and they are doing this to get votes from Patidar community. We have shown our anger and frustration in Amit Shah public meeting and if congress fails to take up stand, we will definitely protest in the public meeting of Rahul Gandhi.”
India Tribune, as an English weekly newspaper, was launched in 1977 in Chicago by its publisher Prashant Shah with a lofty ideal to serve the Asian Indian community in the USA. Over the years, it has grown with all vigor, and now it is being published in three editions – Chicago, New York and Atlanta. India Tribune, a journal of its kind for the family in the USA, has been a household name for many Indians for over three decades with each issue commanding a readership of over 125,000.
