In the recording, when Sardar Patel Group leader Lalji Patel is asked if Hardik Patel "misled" the community on the reservation issue, Lalji answers "Yes". (File Photo - Hardik Patel)
An audio tape has surfaced in which a Patel quota agitation leader is allegedly saying that his community "stands no chance" of getting reservation under the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category, while another leader has alleged that Hardik Patel "misled" the community on the issue.
The tape contains a telephonic conversation between Lalji Patel (the leader of Sardar Patel Group) with Khodabhai Patel, another leader of the community. and has gone viral on social media.
Lalji Patel's Sardar Patel Group and Hardik Patel-led Patidar Anamant Andolan Samiti are two separate groups leading quota agitation of the Patel community in the state. While Hardik Patel and some other members of his group are in Jail in the sedition case, Lalji Patel is currently leading the agitation.
"We will never get reservation under OBC quota as we (Patels) do not fall in the criteria of getting the quota. It is for those who are backward... and if we insist, then all other communities will stand up against us and a class-conflict will start. The government will never include us in OBC category," Lalji Patel is purportedly been heard saying in the tape.
When Khodabhai Patel asks Lalji Patel if that means Hardik Patel "misled" the community on the reservation issue, Lalji answers "Yes".
Hardik Patel's group had started the agitation demanding the inclusion of the entire Patel community in the OBC category. 27 per cent seats out of the total 49 per cent in education and jobs are reserved for OBC category in Gujarat.
Lalji Patel's group has confirmed that it was indeed their leaders voice in the audio clip, and that the conversation was from a call that Khodabhai Patel had made to him a week ago.
However, the group's spokesperson - Urvin Patel sought to downplay the controversy, saying that Lalji Patel has "not endorsed" that Hardik had misled the Patel community.
Urvin Patel also said that what Lalji Patel meant was that the OBC reservation for the community would take time.
Speaking about the Congress' offer of giving reservation to Patels and other upper castes under the EBC (Economically Backward Class) category, Lalji Patel is heard saying that other upper castes will reap maximum profits if the EBC reservation is accepted, while the Patels would not gain much.
On Congress' improved performance in local bodies polls held in November, Lalji Patel admitted that their stir had helped Congress, as Patels had decided to teach BJP a lesson.
The large-scale protests by Patidars last year had triggered violence in many parts of the state, culminating in the arrest of Hardik Patel and his aides under the charge of sedition.