Patidar leaders give Congress 24-hour ultimatum on reservation issue

Gandhinagar, Nov 18 (IANS) Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) leaders have given the Congress party a 24-hour deadline to declare their stand on the reservation status for the community.

As the Congress leaders are under pressure and busy over selection of candidates for the Gujarat Assembly elections, there seems to be trouble brewing as the PAAS convenors, who had been called to New Delhi for talks with senior leaders, are reportedly unhappy.

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

However, it was unclear whether the deadlock was over the reservation issue or over PAAS' demand for seats.

Dinesh Bamania, convener of PAAS, claimed that Gujarat Congress president Bharatsinh Solanki initially had a brief meeting with them and told them that there would be a detailed meeting again after the Congress Central Election Committee's meeting got over.

"However, even after the CEC meeting got over, they have not met us and Solanki is not picking up our calls. This is an insult to us," he said.

After the waiting, Bamania, after speaking to PAAS leader Hardik Patel, has reportedly given an ultimatum to the Congress to declare its stand on the reservation status within 24 hours or else face opposition.

The PAAS group has earlier made known its opposed stance to the ruling BJP in Gujarat in the coming elections.