On a day when the prime minister said “nation was shocked and pained first” at the Patel quota stir, its chief architect Hardik Patel travelled to the national capital and warned of taking the agitation outside Gujarat to other parts of the country for seeking reservation for 27 crore Kurmis and Gujjars.
PM Narendra Modi stressed on development alone being the pill to solve country’s problems, which was his response to the Patel agitation seeking reservation in the OBC quota. “The recent incidents of violence in Gujarat have upset the entire nation. Whatever happens to the land of (Mahatma) Gandhi and Sardar Patel, the nation is shocked and pained first,” Modi said in his monthly radio programme “Mann Ki Baat”.
He also thanked people of Gujarat of which he was chief minister for 12 years before moving to Delhi, for controlling situation in a short time. “They played an active role and did not let the situation worsen and peace was restored in the state,” Modi said.
At least 10 people died due to violence that followed agitation since his August 25 Ahmedabad rally despite PM’s earlier appeal to remain calm and advocated that issues can be resolved through dialogue.
Hardik Patel, who has refused to engage the BJP government of Gujarat for negotiations, held meetings with different community leaders in order to broadbase his agitation and spread it to other states
. He has been demanding that either Patels or Patidars be included in the OBC quota or make economic, instead of caste, the criteria for reservation.