(DNA)
Calling the BJP and its party president Amit Shah a goon, Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) leader Hardik Patel urged people to change the leadership of Gujarat. “If they can give you suggestions to rotate your crop periodically why can’t you change leaders with your votes,” Patel questioned the youth and farmers who had gathered to hear him. The young Patel leader addressed a serie sof ‘chock pe charcha’ in several villages of Morbi district. Interestingly, Hardik was addressing people not 50 km away from where Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed a crowd on his second visit to the state for election campaigning since elections were declared.
“We were with the BJP of Keshubapa (a reference to Keshubhai Patel) and and Vallabh Kathiria but not with the BJP of goon like Amit Shah,” he said at Ghunda village of Tankara taluka in Morbi district At Bela village, he clarified that the people were fools to vote for the same leader for 25 years when he is unable to build good roads. He lauded Keshubapa for standing up against the BJP, a party that nomore cares for the Patels. “BJP don’t care for us as they think we have nowhere else to go,” said Hardik. He said a BJP loss was equal to a big victory for ‘us’. “If BJP wins it won’t be a defeat of Congress but humiliation of Patels,” said Hardik.
In a veiled reference to Modi’s rallies he said it was time to elect leader whose hackles are raised when farmer don’t get good price for groundnut. “We should not elect leaders whose only job is to ferry labourers to public meetings of PM Narendra Modi,” said Hardik. In Rangapar village, Hardik said he would not tell them whom to vote for and then in the same breath said, “But don’t vote for the BJP.”
