‘We favour quota through legal route’

Vadodara: Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) is in favour of reservation for Patidar community in Gujarat. NCP leader Praful Patel said on Sunday that Patidars came on streets in big numbers and it cannot be ignored. "We are in favour of reservation but in constitutional and legal way. We have to find a practical way to implement it," Patel said during his visit to the city.

"This issue cannot be ignored anymore. But the reservation issue is not as simple as Congress wants everyone to believe," Patel added. Patel had met PAAS leader Hardik Patel last month and discussed the reservation demand with him. NCP has fielded 58 candidates in the state in this election. "We wanted to field nearly 100 candidates but we saw that there is an environment of change in Gujarat. BJP is facing tough time in this poll so we didn't field more candidates to avoid vote division. Our fight is against BJP," Patel added.

"Hindutva agenda won't work this time for BJP as it's more about development issues," Patel said but also added that polarization in society in Gujarat will spoil chances of BJP's win. When asked why the alliance talks with Congress didn't work out, Patel said, "We had met Rahul Gandhi who too wanted an alliance. But Congress always tries to keep an upper hand and doesn't accept the fact that others have potential too."

"Many people in Gujarat don't like BJP but they don't like Congress too. NCP is an alternative. We are currently fighting as an independent party," he said. When asked whether NCP would consider post-poll alliance with Congress, Patel remained non-committal and said that he can't say anything as of now. He promised to release NCP's manifesto in a day or two.