Akhilesh Katiyar to help Hardik Patel; says campaign may reach Bihar

NEW DELHI: A day after Akhilesh Katiyar was sacked by the Rashtriya Lok Samata Party, for helping Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti leader Hardik Patel to organise a rally in New Delhi, he said the campaign for reservations will be intensified and may reach Bihar, “if our community representatives extend support and invite us there.”

Speaking to reporters in New Delhi on Friday, Katiyar denied Patel would campaign for Nitish Kumar as the group’s focus was on fighting “repression against our community in Gujarat.” However, he added that Bihar was part of his brief for spreading the pro-reservation campaign in Hindi-speaking states. “We will seek support from the people of our community in other states, reach out to the powers that be to convince them about our demands, but our focus right now is on Gujarat ,” Katiyar said, seeking to parry questions about his Bihar ambitions. Patel and Katiyar may tour Bihar Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh to build a coalition of Gurjar, Kurmi and Patel community groups for inclusion into OBC list.

Katiyar told ET that his former boss Shivraj Singh was aware about his role in the Delhi rally but only opposed it “under pressure from Narendra Modi and Amit Shah.” He rubbished RSLP’s charge of having collected money without party consent to campaign for Bihar elections and claimed that Singh had assured him that the expulsion letter was to mention “anti-party activities” but Singh did not keep the assurance given to him.