Ahmedabad: The 'economic non-cooperation' by Patels for OBC reservation demand spread on Wednesday as the community members queued up in large numbers at a bank in Sabarkantha district to withdraw money.
Even as the Patel community people recently banned the entry of politicians in their villages, the Hardik Patel-led Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS- which is spearheading the quota stir) has also called upon the women to protest at the venues of any official government or BJP function.
This led to protests by Patel community members, including women, on Wednesday at many places in the state, including Jamnagar, Surendranagar, Amreli, Bharuch and Himmatnagar districts.
The Patel community residents of Kherol village under Talod taluka in Sabarkantha on Wednesday withdrew their money from a co-operative bank.
"Around 200 members of the Patel community, who are associated with the agitation, today came to our bank to withdraw their money," branch manager of Sabarkantha District Cooperative Bank in Kherol village, Rakesh Mehta said.
"We could not give them entire money, which is around Rs nine crore from three thousand account-holders of the Patel community, so we just gave them around Rs ten lakh today," Mehta added.
The bank manager said he assured the Patel community members, who were led by former sarpanch of Kherol village Kamlesh Patel, that the bank will return their entire money on Friday. The Patel leaders demanding reservation for their community under OBC quota had earlier made an appeal to the people to withdraw money from banks to give a message to the state government, as they claimed that the government has turned deaf ears to their demand of reservation.
In Vadodara also some prominent Patel community members withdrew money from bank. "I have withdrawn Rs 10 lakhs fixed deposit. Government is using our money through banking channel. Now they cannot use that," Vadodara resident Kanti Patel said.
On Tuesday, a sum of Rs 20 lakh was withdrawn in a day from a cooperative bank in Vadrad village of Sabarkantha.
Meanwhile, the Patel community members have also asked their community women to protest at the venue of any government or party function organised by the ruling BJP.
In Vadodara, BJP leaders, including MP from Chhota Udepur Ramsinh Rathava, MLA Dinesh Patel and the party's chief in Vadodara district Satish Patel, did not come to inaugurate a street-light project in Padra area as the members of Patel community reached the spot and started shouting slogans against the government.
Women members of the Patel community on Wednesday protested against the BJP leaders at several places in Jamnagar, Surendranagar, Amreli, Bharuch and Himmatnagar districts.
BJP leaders had gone there to meet partymen of local units as part of the preparation for the forthcoming local body polls. The Patel women registered their protest by beating steel plates with spoons at various places.
At Halvad town in Surendranagar, some BJP members, who went there for local body polls, had to return sensing the fury of women from Patel community.
