Agreement reached with Congress, wait for Hardik's announcement: Patidar leader

The Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti on Sunday said their main issue of concern, regarding negotiations with the Congress, was reservation and their leader, Hardik Patel, was slated to make an important announcement in this regard on Monday.

"Our first and last concern is reservation. Hardik Patel will make an announcement from Rajkot tomorrow (Monday)," PAAS leader Dinesh Bambhaniya said.

Bambhaniya's statement came after his meeting with Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee President Bharat Singh Solanki.

Solanki, on his part, confirmed the Congress had the backing of the PAAS, adding they had come to agreement on numerous issues with the Patidar leaders, which would be announced soon.

"We took our conversation forward with the Patidar leaders. We had further discussions on the issue on which we mutually agreed last time when we met. In the coming days, we will try to implement what we discussed," he said.

"PAAS leaders have not asked for tickets, so did Alpesh Thakore and Jignesh Mevani. But for the welfare of the people of Gujarat and for their happiness, we will give tickets to some of them," he added.

The Patidar leaders had reportedly given the Congress a 24-hour deadline on Saturday to declare their stand on the reservation status for the community.

The PAAS leaders flew to New Delhi on Friday to hold talks with Congress leaders regarding their demand of granting reservation status to the Patidar community.

The deadlock between the two parties has persisted for weeks over the reservation issue.

PAAS convenor Hardik Patel had categorically said that they would extend their support to the Congress in the upcoming Gujarat Assembly elections only if their demands were met.

The Congress is counting on the Patidar votes to sway the election results of Gujarat polls in their favour and uproot the Bharatiya Janata Party, which has been in power since 1995 in the state.

The polls will be conducted in Gujarat in two phases -- December 9 and December 14.

The counting of the votes will be held on December 18.