Gujarat govt ready to form commission for Patel community

In an apparent bid to pacify the Patel community, Gujarat Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel today said the government is ready to form a commission to address its demands.

The Patel (Patidar) community is agitating for quota under the OBC category for the last two years.

However, Nitin Patel clarified that the government is not in favour of naming such commission as `Patidar Aayog' as suggested by the Hardik Patel-led Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS).

"I want to reiterate that our government is ready to form a commission as demanded by them (PAAS). The matter has not moved forward because some people want it to be named as Patidar Aayog, while the government wants to give it another name," the deputy CM told reporters in Gandhinagar.

Earlier in the day, Hardik Patel alleged that Gujarat government was not serious about the community's demands.

"We never had any problem if the commission was not named Patidar Aayog. We will be happy if it is named Savarn Aayog to accommodate other castes....don't delay the formation of Aayog by raising such minor issues," said Hardik.

"BJP government does not even know how that Aayog will work or how much funds it will require. They only announced it to pacify us before PM's visit (on May 22 and 23). We are very much sure that government is not at all serious about forming such a commission," claimed Hardik.