Starting in July 2015, the people of India's Patidar community,[A] seeking Other Backward Class (OBC) status, held public demonstrations across the Indian state of Gujarat.
The government announced the offers of scholarships and subsidies to general category students on 24 September 2015 and a 10% seats reserved for the economically backward classes in April 2016.
In India, the Other Backward Caste (OBC) status invokes affirmative action which provides reserved quotas in education and government jobs.
[28] The demonstration in Visnagar on 23 July turned violent when some agitators torched some vehicles and vandalised the office of Bharatiya Janata Party MLA Rishikesh Patel.
[52] Hardik Patel, who led the rally, declared he would go on a hunger strike with others, demanding the Chief Minister personally be present there to receive the memorandum.
[63] In Surat, the curfew was imposed from 25 to 27 August in the city as the mob torched buses, two ATMs, van, Fire Station and damaged some properties.
[67] In Rajkot, BRTS bus stations were torched and stones thrown; damage to public and private property was estimated at ₹ 1.47 crore.
[96][97] On 19 September police detained Hardik Patel and 35 of his supporters from the Varachha area of Surat for trying to hold the Ekta Yatra (Unity March) rally without receiving prior permission from authorities.
[98][99] There were some incidents of protests, arson, property damage and road blocks in several cities and towns, including Ahmedabad, Surat, Rajkot, Vadodara, Morbi, Navsari, Botad, Visnagar, Mehsana and Jamnagar.
The internet on mobile phones, social media and SMS service was blocked again for 24 hours in several parts of the state, including Ahmedabad, Gandhinagar, Surat, Vadodara and Rajkot.
[103] On 22 September at least 20 Patidar leaders were arrested and FIR filed against them when they held a meeting without police permission in Tenpur village of Bayad Taluka, Aravalli district.
[115] On 26 September activist Umesh Patel from Rajkot committed suicide in support of the agitation;[3] the state Government ordered the inquiry in the case.
[116] The Sardar Patel Seva Charitable Trust, a Patidar doctors' group from Gujarat and abroad, announced financial help of Rs 1 crore to kin of each person who died in the agitation.
[124][125] In many places across the state women of the Patidar community clanked belans (rolling pins) against thalis (steel plates) as a sign of protest.
[139][12] With Hardik Patel still in jail and facing several charges, PAAS organised a 33-day-long Ekta Yatra (Unity March) across eleven districts of Saurastra, starting from Sidsar, Jamnagar and culminating in Kagvad.
[142] During the budget session of the Gujarat Legislative Assembly, 55 INC MLAs were suspended by the speaker when they raised slogans in support of the agitation and hurled lollipops toward the treasury benches and the chief minister.
The seven-member committee headed by Nitin Patel failed to reach a compromise, and Vitthal Radadiya, a BJP MP, held a second round of negotiation.
[149] The Government of Gujarat announced a 10% reservation for Economically Backward Classes (EBC)[C] among the upper castes in educational institutions and jobs.
[8] The state Chief Minister Anandiben Patel resigned, citing her age, but the media speculated that the handling of agitation was one of her reasons.
[172] The Parliament of India passed the bill carrying the 103rd amendment of the constitution which was commenced on 14 January 2019 granting maximum 10% reservation to the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) of the society.
Other leaders including Alpesh Kathiriya, Gopal Italia and Dharmik Malavia joined Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and contested from Varachha Road, Katargam and Olpad constituencies respectively.
[191][192][193] The Jat community of Uttar Pradesh and Haryana announced that they would start agitation in the same manner beginning in September 2015,[50] although their demand for reservation goes back around two decades.
OBC Ekta Manch along with Gujarat Kshatriya Thakor Sena held a counter-protest attended by thousands on 23 August in Ahmedabad and Rajkot.
[200][201][202][203][204][205] On 11 August 2015 the Chief Minister of Gujarat, Anandiben Patel, formed a seven-member panel to interact with the community and submit a report to the government.
[47][196] The chief minister expressed her inability to include Patidar in the OBC category, citing constitutional limitations, and urged the agitators to negotiate; they rejected the call.
[197] On 25 September she announced the Mukhya Mantri Yuva Swalamban Scheme for general category students, which is expected to cost the exchequer ₹ 1,000 crore per year.
[212] On 1 October Gurudas Kamat, General Secretary of the INC, announced its support for the agitation and demanded nationwide reservation for 15-20% population from the economically weaker section (EWS) of society.
[224] Biju Janata Dal MP Baijayant Panda said the angst of the Patidar community is justified by the scarcity of jobs across the nation.
[110] In an interview in the RSS's periodical Sadhna, national spokesperson Manmohan Vaidya said that he supports the reservation given to SC and ST based on historical injustice, but criticised Hardik Patel for his speech and divisive tactics.
[230][231] The public interest litigation was filed in the High Court which demands prohibition on blanket ban on internet services as happened in the end of August 2015.