The Patel quota agitation leader Hardik Patel sprang a surprise today before his crucial meeting with Gujarat Chief Minister Anandiben Patel, saying they will go for talks on the reservation issue only if all the 144 representatives of his group are invited.
Hardik, as Convenor of Patel Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS), is leading the stir for OBC status for the community.
"We have decided that we will go for meeting with the Chief Minister only if she agrees to meet all the 144 of our representatives who have come from different parts of the State," he told reporters here.
The talks are considered crucial as yesterday the state government and Patel community members agreed to sit across the table to discuss the issue for the first time.
"We have sent 14 of our representatives to request the Chief Minister to come out of her official bungalow and meet all our members in her garden.
"If the Chief Minister agrees, then all of us will go for the meeting and if she says no, then we will go back from Gandhinagar without meeting her," Hardik said.
The 22-year-old commerce graduate said PAAS will continue with its agitational programmes if Anandiben refuses to meet all group representatives.
The Patel community is agitating for the last two months for reservation in government jobs and educational institutes under OBC quota.
The stir had turned violent after their August 25 mega rally in Ahmedabad in which 10 people, including a policeman, were killed.
