Patidar leader Hardik Patel on Saturday accused the BJP of "double standards" and took a jibe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying those who "eat biryani are fooling the people", a day after the Gujarat High Court virtually put paid to his contesting the Lok Sabha elections.
In Twitter posts, the Patidar leader also alleged that he was being stopped from contesting the elections, while BJP leaders who had cases against them, including convictions, were untouched.
"It is a crime to speak up before the BJP government. that is why the Gujarat CM is terming us separatists. Vijay Rupani (CM) should feel ashamed. Maybe he forgets that his own party formed government in Jammu and Kashmir in alliance with the separatist PDP party.
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"Young men like me raise our voices on behalf of the people. We don't have biryani with separatists. Those who eat biryani are fooling the people of the country. Sedition charges are being slapped on youth who are fighting against injustice, and the cases against the stone pelters in Kashmir are being withdrawn. BJP must stop its dual standards," he said.
Patel's biryani reference comes a day after Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra took a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying that he had gone to Pakistan in 2015 to eat biryani.
On Friday, after the Gujarat High Court rejected his plea seeking suspension of his conviction in a 2015 rioting case, Patel said the law was being enforced only on those belonging to the Congress.
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"I welcome the decision of the Gujarat High Court. Elections will come and go but the BJP is working against the Constitution. Why is a 25-year-old worker of Congress party being stopped from contesting elections? There are cases against many BJP leaders, even convictions, but the law is only for us," tweeted Patel.
He said that he would not be cowed down by the court verdict. "We will not be cowed down. We will continue to raise our voices on behalf of the common people with honesty, in a non-violent way, and with truth."
"We will make a Congress government in Gujarat, that will serve the people. I will campaign for the party in Gujarat and the whole nation," he said.
Patel joined the Congress on March 12 at a party rally in Ahmedabad.
