Gujarat Government Offers Olive Branch To Agitating Patel Community

AHMEDABAD:  The Anandiben Patel government in Gujarat today decided to bury the hatchet with leaders of the Patel community fighting for reservation for several months, and not press for legal proceedings against them.

Hardik Patel, leader of the Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) which has been agitating for reservation under the Other Backward Classes category, and his close associates, however, would continue to face sedition charges.

The initiative to bridge the gap between the government and the Patels was taken by several leaders of religious trusts of the community.

The religious trusts' leaders held a series of meetings with ministers and later the chief minister herself, following which the government decided not to oppose bail applications of the detained PAAS leaders in various courts.

The government has directed principal secretary in the chief minister's office K Kailashnathan to study the 287 cases filed against PAAS leaders and find a way to withdraw the cases wherever feasible, except those relating to sedition charges.

The government promised the Patel leaders that it would try to find ways to ensure that Hardik Patel and the other leaders were released on bail, official sources said.