The opposition Congress today alleged that the BJP government in Gujarat "misused" the state machinery to influence the outcome of the Visnagar rioting case, in which Patidar quota agitation leader Hardik Patel and two of his aides were sentenced to two years jail by a court.
Hardik, along with Patidar leaders Lalji Patel and A K Patel, were today sentenced by a Gujarat court to two years jail in a case of rioting and arson in Visnagar town in July 2015.
The court later granted bail to them.
Reacting to the court order, state Congress chief Amit Chavda said the BJP government was trying to "suppress" the voice of the youth who are fighting for the rights of their community so they do not dare to stand against the government.
"The dictatorial BJP government committed atrocities against the youths fighting for their community by slapping false cases on them in an attempt to suppress their voice," Chavda told reporters.
"Judiciary is supreme, and I am not here to comment on the order. But to suppress the voice of the agitators, the government produced false evidences and misused the government machinery to influence the outcome of the case. Everybody has faith in judiciary. When the matter goes to the higher court, things will become clear," he said.
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Chavda also pointed out that ahead of the last year's state polls, the government had promised to withdraw the cases against the Patidar community members.
"The government had said that cases against Patidar agitators will be withdrawn. Now that the elections are over, the BJP government is trying to suppress the voice so that the agitators do not fight for their rights," he said.
Reacting to the court judgement, the ruling BJP said the identity of Gujarat as a state believing in "non-violence, love and peace" should not be disturbed.
State BJP spokesperson Bharat Pandya said, "Gujarat believes in non-violence, love and peace. This identity of Gujarat should not be disturbed."