Rein in Hardik Patel's agitation within 15 days, OBC leader Alpesh Thakor warns government

AHMEDABAD: OBC leader Alpesh Thakor who is leading a movement to counter the Patel quota agitation, today gave a 15-day ultimatum to the Gujarat government to rein in the agitation led by Hardik Patel.

Commenting on Hardik's detention by Rajkot police ahead of India-South Africa One Day International match, Thakor said the government could have taken proactive steps.

"Why Gujarat government waited for Hardik to come so close to the match venue? We suspect that the government is behind the Patel quota agitation. Otherwise Hardik does not have the guts to carry out such protests," he said.

"It is unfortunate that a youngster (Hardik) is being allowed to do whatever he wants to. We condemn his attempts to use cricket match as a platform to stage protests. It will leave a huge dent on India's reputation if slogans are raised inside the stadium during a match," Thakor said here.

Thakor, who is the convener of OBC-ST-SC Ekta Manch, alleged that Gujarat government was deliberately going soft on Hardik.

"This government is not doing enough to stop him. We have lost our faith in this government... we are giving 15 days to this government to take concrete steps against these agitators and control them. If it is not done, then we will start a state-wide civil disobedience movement, where more than 5 lakh of our members will court arrests," Thakor said.