In a sudden jolt to the Patidar agitation and its leader Hardik Patel on the eve of the first round of polling in the Gujarat assembly elections, his closest aide Dinesh Bambhania resigned from the Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) on Friday.
Bambhania, who had been a convener of PAAS since its inception in July 2015 and also faces sedition charges, asked Hardik Patel to come clean on the sex videos allegedly featuring him, and claimed that the Congress had "fooled" the Patidars over their quota demands.
"We met Congress twice over quotas. However, they have made a fool out of us. Our main fight is for reservations and not to get Congress in power. The entire agitation appears to have lost its way. Till 2017 elections are over, no rallies should be held to help any party," Baambhania, who has been in the forefront in the demands and discussion for the quota with the Congress, told the media.
He also added that he was not going to join the Bharatiya Janata Party or any other party.
"I am with PAAS. I want that Hardik should come out clean on this issue of allegations of money being given, deals on candidates and sex CDs."
Ever since the release of the alleged sex videos, it seems that there has been a divide between him and Hardik. There have also been differences between him and the others in PAAS regarding Congress stance and ticket sharing.
Earlier Hardik Patel had lost five of their PAAS conveners and close aides in their fight for reservation. Varun Patel and Reshma Patel, both conveners and very active faces of PAAS had left the group to join the BJP. Some time later, Ketan Patel, Amrish Patel and Shweta Patel also left PAAS and eventually joined the BJP too.
The trouble started brewing between Bambhania and Hardik Patel soon after the announcement by Congress of its list of candidates for Patel-dominated constituencies of Surat and Saurashtra. Bambhania had rushed in to the house of state Congress chief Bharatsinh Solanki late past midnight and had created a ruckus there.
Bambhania was even detained by police for misbehaving and illegal entering residential premise. The very next day, Hardik Patel held a press meet to announce acceptance of formula offered by Congress. "Only I will communicate with you henceforth and only my word would be official," he had told the media with Bambhania sitting next to him.
Hardik Patel had even announced his plan to restructure the PAAS core committee after the exit of others. It is believed that this change might not have gone down well for Bambhania and he had decided to call quits before it.
--IANS
amc/vd
Disclaimer: No Business Standard Journalist was involved in creation of this content
