Patidar-Congress meet ends without agreement on quota for Patels

Members of the Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti met Gujarat Congress leaders today but no agreement could be reached on the assurance about quotas for the Patels, a precondition set by PAAS leader Hardik Patel for extending support to the party in the Assembly polls.

After the meeting at the Congress's state headquarters which lasted three hours, PAAS leaders said they will hold another round of discussion by November 7 to resolve the issue.

Hardik Patel, who skipped the meeting, said the next round of negotiations will be the final.

"If we have been fighting for reservation in government jobs and educational institutions for two-and-a-half years, then waiting for a few days is no a big deal. But the next meeting on the issue will be the last and final," he told reporters.

Hardik Patel had last Saturday threatened to disrupt Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi's proposed rally in Surat if the main opposition party in Gujarat did not make clear how it will provide quotas to the Patidar community. However, today he said he will not oppose Rahul Gandhi's rally.

Gandhi is scheduled to campaign in poll-bound Gujarat from November 1 to 3. Patel said he will take the final call on meeting Gandhi after consulting the core committee of the PAAS.
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Keshav Prasad Maurya, BJP's OBC face rewarded for UP win

Keshav Prasad Maurya, BJP's OBC face in Uttar Pradesh, has been rewarded with the post of Deputy Chief Minister for working tirelessly to galvanise support for the party on the ground.

Associated with the RSS and the VHP from an early age, Maurya's life bears an uncanny similarity to that of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Both, as young men from poor families, helped their fathers sell tea.

Representing Phulpur in the Lok Sabha, Maurya, 47, has seen his career graph rise steadily in the party. He was said to be one of the top contenders for the chief ministership after the landslide victory secured by the party in the state.

After becoming the first time MLA in UP Assembly in 2012, he was made UP BJP chief in 2016 and had a role in the BJP securing three-fourths majority.

Born in a farmer's home in Kaushambi district of UP, Maurya spent his childhood in poverty. Like Modi, Maurya also worked at tea-stalls and sold newspapers to support his family and continue education.

Like Modi, Maurya takes pride in his childhood compulsion of serving tea to customers and considers it as a common thread that binds him with the prime minister.

The member's page on the website of Lok Sabha says that Keshav Prasad Maurya "got inspiration for doing social service as well as education during childhood while selling tea". (READ MORE)