Will address 100 rallies, says Hardik Patel

AHMEDABAD: The Supreme Court decision’s not to give an urgent hearing to Patidar leader and now Congressman Hardik Patel, on his plea to stay his conviction in a rioting case, has rendered him unable to contest these elections. The 25-year-old leader has now contented himself with “a larger responsibility” to campaign for his party. He believes that the Congress, which did not win a single seat in the state in 2014, will win at least one more seat than the BJP in

Gujarat

.

Your hopes of contesting the election have been dashed. What will you do now?

n As the Supreme Court has not granted a stay on my conviction, my work has gotten bigger, to strengthen the Congress in Gujarat. I will hold 100 rallies in Gujarat and other parts of the country, including a massive rally of youth in Mumbai on April 7. I will start public meetings in Gujarat from April 11 and will hold at least four public rallies per day. The last rally, which will be held in Ahmedabad, will be the biggest rally in Gujarat’s history.

Is it different fighting under the Congress banner rather than an individual fight?

n No there is no difference. When I saw the Congress sankalp-patra (manifesto), I felt my purpose of joining the party has fulfilled, as the Congress has included the issues I raised during my agitation in the manifesto. Whatever the Congress wants to do is what Hardik fights for.
So you will now toe the ‘party-line’?

n Of the 42 rallies I will address in Gujarat, seven will be organized in my individual capacity. There is nothing wrong in following the party line if you have a long-term vision. Earlier, I fought for one community, now I will fight for hundreds of deprived communities as I have joined the Congress.

How do you see Congress’s prospects in Gujarat?

This time the Congress will get the most seats. I do not want to get into figures. But we will win at least one seat more than the BJP in Gujarat.

How will you further the quota issue?

n There will be absolutely no talk about the quota issue as the government has already provided 10% reservations for poor savarnas (non-reserved castes). If the Supreme Court puts stays the Union government’s quota, only then will I take up the issue again.