Hardik booked for holding roadshow sans permission

Two days after the BJP retained power in Gujarat, the Ahmedabad Police on Wednesday booked Patidar quota stir leader Hardik Patel and 50 of his supporters.

Hardik, who is facing several cases, including sedition, has now been booked for holding a roadshow in Ahmedabad on December 11 without police permission.

Hardik and his supporters have been booked under Section 188 of the Indian Penal Code, a bailable offence, under which the accused is liable to imprisonment from one to six months and a penalty or both.

Hardik and his supporters took out a 10-hour, 15-km roadshow from Bopal to Nikol, passing through 5-6 constituencies, on December 11, a couple of days ahead of polling in Ahmedabad.

Thousands of supporters had joined Hardik in a show of strength, leading to a minor stone-throwing incident at the BJP candidate's office in Bapunagar area.

But the Congress was able to wrest the Bapunagar seat from the BJP after almost two decades.

Police Commissioner A K Singh had even denied permission to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress president Rahul Gandhi to hold roadshows in the city the next day.

With Hardik threatening to re-start his agitation within a week and the BJP set to form a government for the sixth time in Gujarat, the new government may clamp down heavily on such protests.