With agitation of the powerful Patel community demanding reservation benefits is getting momentum in Gujarat, a few more upper castes, including Brahmins and Kshatriyas, too have joined the bandwagon and initiated a stir to include them in Other Backward Class (OBC) category.
Members of the Patel community organised a rally in Gandhinagar as well as in North Gujarat town Himmatnagar onMonday and named the agitation as ‘Patel Anamat Andolan’. Both the rallies were under the same banner.
In Gandhinagar, the rally started from ‘Gh-0’ circle, the entry point of Gandhinagar, and marched up to the Collector’s office where the leaders of the community handed over a memorandum to the district collector demanding reservation in OBC quota. Nearly 30,000 people had gathered at the rally.
One of the leaders Hardik Patel, who led the rally in Himmatnagar, said that the State Government would have to consider their demand ahead of the 2017 Assembly elections. Patel said that those who are active in politics need to extend support to the cause even if it comes at the cost of resignations from their respective parties.
On Friday, members of the Brahmin community too organised a peaceful rally in Morbi town of Saurashtra, where they handed over a memorandum to the Collector demanding their inclusion in OBC category. In order to create awareness among the community members ‘Brahm Jagaran Vichar Manch’ has been founded in Amreli by the Brahmins a few days ago. At Upleta town of Rajkot district, Brahmins and Kshtiryas organised two different rallies with the same agenda on Monday.
Most of the community leaders in the State are in favour of giving reservation benefits on the basis of economic criteria, irrespective of castes. “Patels are definitely powerful, socially and financially. However, many in the community are still economically backward. They should be given the benefit of OBC quota. Same is the case with other upper castes communities, including Brahmins and Kshatriyas. There is nothing wrong in it,” opined Mahesh Patel, a member of Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti.
