BHAVNAGAR: Alpesh Kathiriya, a prominent Patidar leader who was part of the 2015 agitation for reservation to the community in Gujarat, on Sunday joined the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in the state, where the Assembly polls are due this year-end.
He joined the AAP in the presence of the party's national convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal during an election rally in Gariadhar city of Bhavnagar district.
Kathiriya is a convener of Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS), an outfit that had organised state-wide agitation demanding Other Backward Class (OBC) status and reservation in government jobs and educational institutions to the youth from the Patidar community.
He joined the AAP along with his friend and PAAS co-convener Dharmik Malaviya and other members of the organisation.
Kathiriya said all of them feel that the AAP will provide them the right forum to work for the cause of nation-building through social work.
"All of us will have to come forward in this struggle for the community, for our pride, for the nation, for better education, health and corruption-free good governance. Your support is required," Kathiriya said in his address at the election rally following his induction.
"The greater the struggle, the bigger the victory," said Kathiriya, who faced more than 22 cases, including that of sedition, for his involvement in the 2015 reservation agitation and spent over 14 months in jail before being released on bail.
Kathiriya is a friend of Hardik Patel, a former convener of PAAS who jumped into the political arena by first joining the Congress where served as its working president before resigning to join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Kathiriya was the face of the Patidar reservation agitation in Surat and was jailed in a sedition case that was registered against him by the Surat police.
He was formerly associated with the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the student wing of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).
After inducting him and others, Kejriwal said, "I welcome Kathiriya and Malaviya in AAP. Both are youth leaders, and the future of India is in the hands of youth. They are struggling leaders who fought a long battle for the rights of youths and went to jail."
Earlier in the day, prominent Koli community leader Raju Solanki and his son Brajraj Solanki joined the AAP in Kejriwal's presence at Bhavnagar city.
The Election Commission is likely to announce the schedule for the polls to the 182-member Gujarat Legislative Assembly this week.