Hardik Patel was asked by the Gujarat High Court to stay out of the state for six months.
The face of the Patidar agitation, 23-year-old Hardik Patel, will be returning to Gujarat after six months on Tuesday. According to leaders of the Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS), Mr Patel is expected to arrive at Ratanpur, on the Rajasthan-Gujarat border, around 11 am and escorted toward Gujarat's Himmatnagar in a rally of nearly 5,000 vehicles.
"About a lakh workers have been asked to assemble at Ratanpur and Himmatnagar to welcome Hardik. He will, then, spell out the fuutre course of action," said PAAS leader Varun Patel.
Hardik Patel, in a massive rally on August 25, 2015, had taken potshots at the ruling-BJP government and demanded reservation for the Patidar community in jobs and academic institutions. He was eventually arrested after the rally triggered statewide violence, which led to the death of at least 12 people. He was later booked by the Gujarat police in a sedition case in October of that year.
After spending nine months in a jail in Surat, Mr Patel was asked by the Gujarat High Court to stay out of the state for a period of six months while laying down conditions for bail in the sedition case.
Mr Patel, thereafter, shifted his base to Udaipur and vowed to continue his agitation against the BJP government in Gujarat. He also met Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, which fueled speculation that he could be drawing closer to the Janata Dal (United) president as a run up to the state assembly elections in Gujarat in 2018.