New Delhi: Trouble is already brewing for Congress ahead of the assembly elections in Gujarat as the party gears up to face the ruling BJP. In a late night development, members of the group called PAAS or Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti attacked Congress offices in Surat alleging the party included two leaders of the movement in the first list of 77 candidates. The inclusion of the members signaled a deal had been struck when none had, PAAS claimed.
The attack came hours after
Congress said on Sunday it had reached an agreement with the Patidar community led by Hardik Patel. The grand old party has included 19 members of the community in its first list for the elections slated for next month. Two of Hardik Patel's aides, Lalit Vasoya and Nilesh Patel, have also been included in the list that triggered the spat.
Hardik Patel had said earlier he would support Congress only if the party committed itself to allotting reservation in education and government jobs to his community. While he did not attend the Congress meeting on Sunday, he was expected to make an official announcement about the PAAS stance on supporting the party today, PTI reported.
Here are the updates on the Hardik Patel controversy:
Nov 21, 2017 00:53 (IST)
Gujarat Polls: PAAS upset after only 2 members get tickets, according to news agency PTI
After the Congress released its first list of candidates for the Gujarat Assembly Elections, it was revealed that the Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti or PAAS had only two members in it, according to news agency PTI.
Lalit Vasoya and Amir Thummar are the two PAAS leaders whose names appeared on the list yesterday.
Nov 20, 2017 15:39 (IST)
After the Congress list was released on Sunday, Hardik Patel's aide and core member of the PAAS Dinesh Bhambhani threatened a statewide agitation against the grand old party. "Congress announced the names without our permission. We will launch a state-wide agitation against the Congress," he said.
Nov 20, 2017 13:49 (IST)
Hardik Patel has remained silent over the violence reported between the Patidar activists and Congress members in Surat. He also skipped the meeting held by Congress on Sunday. After the meeting, Congress had said it had reached a consensus with the Patidar community. However, the clashes raised doubts about the truce.
Nov 20, 2017 13:15 (IST)
While Congress struggles to strike a deal with Patidar community and its leader Hardik Patel, BJP issued its third list today. Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani filed his nomination from Rajkot today in the presence of Union Minister Arun Jaitley, ANI reported. Gujarat has 182 assembly seats and BJP Chief Amit Shah aims to win 150 seats.
Nov 20, 2017 12:30 (IST)
Hardik Patel was expected to make announcement regarding the official Patidar stance over support to Congress today. However, his rally at Rajkot has been cancelled. The reason for the cancellation of the rally was not clear.
Nov 20, 2017 11:55 (IST)
The Patel community, which has a strong community in south and central Gujarat, have been involved in violent protests earlier over reservation.
Nov 20, 2017 10:16 (IST)
Following the clash between Congress and Patidar outfit, PAAS leader Dinesh Patel today said the outfit would oppose Congress if their concerns were not addressed.