Hardik Patel's former aide to float party, contest Guj polls

Quota agitation leader Hardik Patel's former aide Chirag Patel today said he will float a political party and contest the Gujarat Assembly polls due later this year.

In August last year, the Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) had suspended Chirag and another key leader Ketan Patel from the samiti after they alleged that Hardik used the agitation as a tool to satisfy his personal ambitions and became a "crorepati" within one year of the movement.

Now, Chirag has announced to form a political party "to provide a better political alternative to BJP and Congress," and achieve the goal of getting reservation for the Patel community under the OBC quota.

He alleged that both the parties are "shying away from taking up the issues concerning the Patel community." The Assembly polls in Gujarat are expected to be held later this year.

According to Chirag, forming a political party is the only way to achieve the goal of getting reservation for the Patel community as well as to provide a solution to many other problems being faced by youth, women and farmers in the state.

"Since some time, I have been holding meetings with people in different parts of the state. I realised that people are equally disappointed with the BJP and the Congress," Chirag said.

"Thus, I have decided to float a new party to give a better alternative," he told

(This article has not been edited by DNA's editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)