If the events of Thursday are anything to go by, then these are definitely warning signals for the ruling party in the state. The show of strength, according to reliable sources, was the brainchild of Amit Shah.
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“Patidar community has always been with the BJP and will remain with us”. Hence, this was the second attempt by the BJP to reach out to the Patels in a matter of few days. And on Thursday, party president Amit Shah tried to reach out from another Patel stronghold of Surat. The crowd was getting rowdy by the minute and everyone had to rush through their speeches.
He was also jailed for sedition. A bus was burnt and chairs were thrown forcing everyone on the dias to cut short their speeches. It was the turn of Shah to face the heat. Two members and Hardik aides of PAAS (Patidaar Anamat Andolan Samiti) have quit after levelling allegations that Hardik was busy earning money and deserting the cause.
The Congress on Friday hit out at the BJP, saying its “signature tune” of “jobless growth” first sung in Gujarat had resulted in a revolt of the Patidar community and farmers in general in the western State.
By Darshan Desai The shocker that the Gujarat BJP received in presence of party president Amit Shah in Surat on Thursday night, when its first attempt to grapple with the agitating Patidars came a cropper, has led to a anxious Prime Minister Narendra Modi urgently summon ousted Gujarat chief minister Anandiben Patel to Delhi.
As soon as the situation went out of control, the police were called in and they physically removed the trouble-makers from the venue.
Mr Rupani and Mr Shah were heckled by quota agitation leader Hardik Patel’s supporters at the grand event in Surat organised to felicitate Patel leaders on Friday. Chanting the name of their leader Hardik Patel, who is now serving his bail condition in Udaipur, people disrupted the event by breaking chairs.
The police caned the mobs and burst teargas shells to quell rioting protestors.
But, the state government on Friday ordered the release of all 135 Patel agitators detained for creating ruckus at a function where chief minister Vijay Rupani and BJP President Amit Shah were heckled.
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While Shah wound up within four minutes, Rupani spoke only for three minutes.
