Congress strikes deal with Hardik Patel, agrees to give 11 tickets to PAAS leaders, say Sources

The Congress on Sunday struck a deal with Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti for upcoming Gujarat Assembly elections and agreed to give tickets to 11 PAAS leaders, sources said.

The polling for the two-phase elections in Gujarat will take place on December 9 and 14 and votes will be counted on December 18.

NEW DELHI: The Congress on Sunday struck a deal with Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti for upcoming Gujarat Assembly elections and agreed to give tickets to 11 PAAS leaders, sources said. According to sources, PAAS has asked for 25 seats.

11 PAAS नेता, टिकट देने पर बनी सहमति। लाठी बाबरा से जनक तलविया ओलपाड से वजू गाबानी वराछा से धीरु गजेरा गरियाधार से धर्म बलर कामरेज से निलेश कुंभानि धोराजि से ललित वासोया मोरबी से मनोज पनारा बोटाड से दिलीप गोधरा से उदय पटेल ठक्कर बापा नगर से जयेश पटेल पाटन से किरीट पटेल (सूत्र)

— Pinky Rajpurohit (@Madrassan) November 19, 2017

Earlier on Sunday, Congress has announced that the party has reached an agreement with PAAS for upcoming Gujarat Assembly elections. Gujarat Congress chief Bharatsinh Solanki said the meeting with PAAS leaders on reservations to Patels yielded a "positive outcome". PAAS convener Dinesh Bambhania said Congress has accepted their demands. The official announcement about the nitty-gritty of the reservation formula and the PAAS' stand on supporting the Congress during the Gujarat polls will be announced by Hardik Patel at a public gathering in Rajkot tomorrow, Bambhania said. "Earlier, we had asked the Congress to clarify how they would grant Patidars a constitutionally valid reservation. Today, we held a crucial meeting on that issue and finally reached a consensus on various options offered by the party to us. Official announcement of this agreement will be made by Hardik tomorrow in Rajkot," said Bambhania, a key aide of Hardik Patel. "I can say that we are in agreement with the Congress about their formula of granting reservation. We have not talked anything about giving tickets to PAAS. Hardik would announce tomorrow whether PAAS would support the Congress during the polls or not," he told reporters after the meeting. The meeting was not attended by Hardik Patel but after both parties met he said they reached an agreement over the issue of granting reservation to Patels, if the Congress is voted to power in the state Assembly election. Hardik reiterated he is against BJP and will work to remove the party from power. Gujarat Congress chief Bharatsinh Solanki said the meeting yielded a "positive outcome". "The meeting was successful and yielded a positive outcome. We both agreed to implement this agreement in coming days," he said. A week ago PAAS leaders and senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal held a meeting over the issue, following which, Hardik Patel had said he was satisfied with the three options submitted by the Congress on how the party would grant reservation to Patels if voted to power. Hardik Patel had earlier set a condition that he would support the Congress in the Assembly polls, due next month, only if the party committed itself to allotting reservation in education and government jobs to his community. The polling for the two-phase elections in Gujarat will take place on December 9 and 14 and votes will be counted on December 18. (With inputs from PTI)