With little or no response from the ruling BJP, Partidar leader Hardik Patel ended his hunger strike on the 19th day on Wednesday. Patel, however, vowed to continue the stir in other States.

Soon after ending his “fast”, Hardik, accompanied by supporters, paid a visit to Gandhi Ashram on the banks of Sabarmati River here. He garlanded Gandhiji’s picture, turned the spinning wheel (charkha) and wrote in the visitorsbook!

The BJP-led State government, which had constituted a four-member ministerial committee to take the wind out of his sails, accepted none of the three demands — reservation for the Patels, loan waivers for farmers, and release of his aide Ashwin Kathiria who was arrested on the charges of sedition —raised by Hardik and his Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PASS).

The Congress, which supported his agitation, relegated Hardik’s fast to the second place on the list of demands — the first being the farmers’ loan waiver.

Bowing down

The 25-year-old leader, “persuaded” by Patidar leadership to end his fast, agreed to sip coconut water and lemonade. “I bowed to their appeal to end the fast,” he said.

Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel said Hardik had earlier “humiliated” the community’s leaders when he refused to see reason and end the fast. Hardik shot back: “He should not forget that he is the Deputy CM because of me!”

BJP spokesperson IK Jadeja blamed the Congress party for Hardik’s fast.

During the fast he launched on August 25 to mark the third anniversary of his agitation, a number of non-BJP leaders from different States called on him to support his demands.

He once stopped drinking water to build pressure, but was persuaded by some saints of the Swaminarayan sect, dominated by the Patels, to resume drinking water.He was hospitalised but returned home after a couple of days.

Split in the community

The Patidar community itself seemed to be split between pro- and anti-Hardik factions as the leaders tried to thrash out a comprise with the Government they have been supporting since the early 1990s. While the youth supported Hardik, the seniors, who have had a comfortable relationship with the ruling BJP, tried to intervene time and again.

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