Above: Hardik Patel (file picture). Photo: UNI

Patidar leader Hardik Patel on Thursday (October 26) surrendered before a court in Visnagar, Gujarat and was later granted bail on a bond of Rs 5,000. Earlier, a non-bailable warrant was issued against Patel for not appearing in court in connection with the alleged ransacking of BJP MLA Rishikesh Patel’s office during a protest rally in July, 2015.

After the Visnagar court had issued warrant against him, Hardik Patel had said that he is ready to surrender but the Patidar movement will still continue after his arrests. “I am ready to surrender if the police want to arrest me,” he had said.

The non-bailable warrant was issued against Patel and six others including Lalji Patel, convenor of Sardar Patel Group. Visnagar court falls in the Mehsana district which is the epicenter of the Patidar agitation.

Patel is spearheading a movement to get reservation for Patidars in Gujarat and is the convenor of the Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti. The Congress has formally invited Patel to join hands with them for the upcoming Assembly elections along with other influential youth leaders such as Jignesh Mevani and Alpesh Thakor. However, Patel has not clarified if he will be joining the Congress or not but he did say that if the Congress party supports his quota demands, he will support it. “Our demand is only on quota and if the Congress supports us, we will support it,” he has said.

Meanwhile, there were speculations if Patel had met Rahul Gandhi in his recent visit to the state. Although, Patel and Gandhi, both denied such a meeting but a CCTV footage from the hotel showed that they did meet at the corridor of the hotel room. But reportedly, Patel will be officially meeting Rahul Gandhi in Surat on November 3, in his next visit to the state.

—India Legal Bureau