Decks have been cleared for firebrand Patidar leader and Gujarat Congress working president Hardik Patel to contest elections with the Supreme Court on Tuesday staying his conviction in connection with Patidar quota stir violence case. The case is of 2015 in which Patel had spearheaded Patidar Quota stir seeking OBC status for the Patidars. He was accused of ransacking the office of the BJP MLA from Visnagar.
In 2018, sessions court in Visnagar of Mehsana district sentenced him for two years imprisonment on the charges of rioting and arson. While the Gujarat High Court had suspended the sentence, it had not stayed the conviction.
The Patidar leader had then approached the apex court.
As per the Representation of the People Act, a convict facing jail term of two year or more cannot contest an election unless the conviction is stayed.
Patel took to Twitter and in a post in Hindi said that his aim is not to only contest election but serve the people of Gujarat with more vigor. He said that three years ago in a "false" case he was given two years of imprisonment but today the Supreme Court stayed the conviction. "I thank the judiciary from the bottom of my heart," he said.
Hardik Patel told THE WEEK that he would fight the elections and with the blessings of the people he would go to the State Assembly and serve the people of the state.
Tuesday’s verdict has brought in much needed cheer for the Congress that will face the BJP, which is in power for the last 27 years, and new entrant Aam Aadmi Party in the assembly elections scheduled by the year end.
