As Patidar leader Hardik Patel ended his 19-day-long fast on Wednesday, candidates taking a competitive examination for clerical posts in Gujarat’s Gandhinagar civic body found him on their question paper on Sunday.
The question was regarding his hunger strike, which the 25-year-old Patel quota spearhead had started to demand reservation for his community and loan waivers for the farmers of Gujarat.
The multiple choice question was, “Which political leader offered water to Hardik Patel, who recently sat on fast?”
The four choices offered to candidates were: Sharad Yadav, Shatrughan Sinha, Lalu Prasad Yadav and Vijay Rupani.
The right answer is Sharad Yadav, a former Union minister and ex-chief of the JD(U).
Hardik Patel started his fast on 25 August and shunned water from 6 September. On 7 September, the 14th day of his fast, he was shifted to a private hospital after his health deteriorated.
The next day, 8 September, he was offered water by Yadav in the hospital. The Patidar leader continued his fast after being discharged from the hospital on 9 September and ended his hunger strike on 12 September.
Several political leaders visited Hardik Patel when he was sitting on the indefinite fast at his residence in Gujarat.
While Yadav offered water to Hardik Patel, Sinha, a dissident BJP MP, also visited the Patidar leader to express support.
When asked how and why Hardik Patel featured in the competitive examination paper, Gandhinagar Mayor Pravinbhai Patel said he had no idea.
He said elected representatives of the Gandhinagar Municipal Corporation were not part of the examination process.
“The Gujarat Technological University was outsourced the task of conducting the examination and no elected representative of the civic body was involved in any way,” said Pravinbhai Patel.
Hardik Patel launched his hunger strike in pursuit of two demands – quota in jobs and education for his community members under the OBC category, and loan waivers for farmers in Gujarat.
Later, he added a third demand – the release of his aide Alpesh Katheria, who has been arrested on sedition charges.
However, there were no talks between him and the Gujarat government over the demands.
(With inputs from PTI)
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