Gandhinagar : With local self government body elections looming on the horizon in Gujarat, a visibly apprehensive Anandi-ben Patel government moved with lightning speed to ‘incapacitate’ the patidar pro-reservation agitation leadership in a desperate bid to regain advantage in the ensuing polls. The BJP government in the state realizing that the stir by its main vote bank would load the dice against it, sought to delay the elections through an ordinance, persuading the State Election Commission(SEC) to toe its line as well. However, its efforts came to nought when the Gujarat High Court struck down the ordinance, gave a rap on the knuckles of the SEC and directed the state government to hold the polls forthwith.
Falling in line, the SEC on Friday announced a two-phase poll schedule with six out of eight key municipal corporations slated for polling on November 22 with counting on November 26 and 230 taluka panchayats, 56 municipalities and 31 district panchayats to vote on November 29 with counting on December 2, said the state Election Commissioner Varesh Sinha, a retired bureaucrat. Pushed way beyond the proverbial backfoot by the patidar agitation which had forced the domineering BJP rank and file into a corner, the state government moved to incapacitate the agitation leaders by booking them on charges of sedition.
Arrested on Monday, October 19, on charges of sedition and conspiring to overthrow a lawfully elected government, 22-year-old Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) leader Hardik Patel was remanded to police custody till Friday but when the Surat court rejected the state demand for further remand, the authority of the state manifested itself with the Ahmedabad crime branch police lying in wait and arresting him on the very same charge of sedition and moving him to Ahmedabad on a transfer warrant. The Gujarat High Court , has in the meantime withheld its verdict till Tuesday on a petition moved by Hardik’s father challenging the grave charges levied on his son. The police version was that Hardik exhorted youngsters to kill policemen instead of thinking of committing suicide themselves. Challenged by his father Bharat Patel in the High Court through their advocate B M Mangukia, had the judicial authority issuing notice to the state government wanting to know how such a statement could be construed as an act of sedition. Patel is not alone for there are five others who have been similarly slapped with sedition charges. They are Chirag Patel, Ketan Patel and Dinesh Bamania while Alpesh Kathiria from Surat and Amrish Patel from Ahmedabad, are yet to come to hand. The three have been remanded to police custody till 3.30 pm on October 29.
