Patidar leader Hardik Patel was hospitalised on Friday, the 14th day of his indefinite hunger strike, after his health deteriorated, ANI reported. He has been admitted to the Sola Civil Hospital in Ahmedabad, according to TV9.
Patel started his fast unto death on August 25 to demand reservation for his community under the Other Backward Classes category and a farm loan waiver. Last week, he prepared a will, naming his parents and sister, a gaushala (cow shelter) and the kin of the 14 Patidars who died during the quota agitation in 2015 as his inheritors.
Several Congress leaders have visited Patel at his Ahmedabad home during the fast. Political outfits such as the Nationalist Congress Party, the Trinamool Congress, the Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Aam Aadmi Party have extended their support.
Former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda on Monday urged Patel to end his hunger strike immediately, saying his “services are needed for this country to fight further for good causes”. Former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav also asked the Patidar leader to take care of his health. “His movement, which has spread awareness among people, and his supporters need his active leadership,” Yadav said.
Patel has said he will not allow doctors to conduct medical checkups until police stop harassing visitors at his home. “Gujarat’s Bharatiya Janata Party government has not seen my resolve,” he tweeted on Monday. “The more I stay hungry, the more my resolve will go up. I am not so weak that I will die before getting people their rights.”
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