The Congress on Sunday said it had resolved certain differences with the Hardik Patel-led Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti, which has been demanding quota for the Patidar community. It was these differences that reportedly prevented the party from announcing its list of candidates for the first phase of the Gujarat Assembly elections.
The development comes a day after the Patidar outfit gave the Congress a 24-hour deadline to come to a decision on reservation for the community. Candidates have till Tuesday to file nomination papers to contest the polls.
Spokesperson Manish Doshi was quoted as saying by the Hindustan Times that the Opposition party will unveil its list after the meeting Patidar leaders in Ahmedabad on Saturday.
“We have come to an understanding on issues that had caused the talks to stall,” Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee President Bharat Singh Solanki said after the meeting.
Earlier, The Times of India reported that the Hardik Patel-led group had asked for nine tickets for its key leaders, but the Congress was ready to part with only four.
But Solanki, on Sunday, said the group had not asked for any tickets, a point reiterated by the Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti’s Spokesperson Dinesh Bambhaniya. “Our first and last concern is reservation,” he told reporters. “Hardik Patel will make an announcement from Rajkot tomorrow.”
The Assembly elections in Gujarat will be held in two phases on December 9 and December 14. The results will be declared on December 18.
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