From July 2015 Gujarat's Patidar (Patel) community campaigned for OBC reservation under the Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS), led by 22-year-old Hardik Patel. After a huge rally in Ahmedabad on 25 August 2015, police detained Hardik and charged the crowd, and violence spread across the state: 8 to 14 people were killed, depending on the source, and curfew and the army followed. Hardik spent about nine months in jail on sedition charges; he later joined the Congress, then the BJP, and in 2025 the sedition cases were withdrawn.
Key takeaways
- Police detained Hardik Patel at the GMDC ground in Ahmedabad on the evening of 25 August 2015 after he began a fast past the rally's permitted time, setting off statewide violence, curfew, an army deployment and a mobile internet ban.
- The Gujarat High Court ordered a probe on 27 August 2015 after CCTV footage showed policemen damaging cars.
- The High Court struck down Gujarat's 10% quota ordinance for poorer families in unreserved castes on 4 August 2016, and both sedition cases against Hardik Patel were withdrawn in 2025 after he became a BJP MLA.
Background: who the Patidars are and what they wanted
The Patidars, many of whom carry the surname Patel, make up around 12% of Gujarat's population and dominate more than 60 Assembly constituencies, many in Saurashtra and in the cities of Ahmedabad and Surat Scroll.
The agitation began in July 2015, inspired by the Gujjar agitation in Rajasthan, demanding OBC status and with it reservation in jobs and education. Hardik began campaigning, Deccan Herald reported, after his sister lost a scholarship that a friend got under the OBC quota Deccan Herald.
Gujarat already had 49.5% reservation: 27% for OBCs, 15% for Scheduled Tribes and 7.5% for Scheduled Castes Gulf News. The Supreme Court had set a 50% ceiling on reservations in 1992, which, Outlook noted, prevents the state from adding more, though Hardik maintained it was possible Outlook.
In July 2015, during a Patidar rally in Visnagar, Mehsana district, the office of BJP MLA Rishikesh Patel was ransacked, which became a main criminal case against Hardik PTI via Outlook.
The GMDC ground rally, 25 August 2015
PAAS called a "Kranti Rally" at the GMDC ground in western Ahmedabad on 25 August 2015. Estimates of the crowd ranged from over 5 lakh to around a million Tribune IANS via Free Press Journal Deccan Herald.
Speaking at the rally, Hardik warned that the "lotus" (the BJP's symbol) would not bloom in the 2017 Assembly elections if the community was not included in the OBC quota Tribune. He then announced an indefinite fast at the venue and served a 48-hour ultimatum, insisting that Chief Minister Anandiben Patel come in person to accept the community's memorandum. The government chose to ignore it Tribune.
The rally's permission ran until 5 pm. In the evening, police detained Hardik and his supporters after a lathicharge on more than 2,000 people still at the ground; journalists were also injured Tribune. Rumours spread that he had been beaten in custody; he was released within about an hour Tribune.
How the violence spread
Mobs on the streets
Patidars stoned buses and public property in Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Rajkot and elsewhere, and police said mobs tried to burn the Mehsana house of Minister of State for Home Rajni Patel Tribune. Mobile internet was suspended the same day to stop rumours; it was restored from midnight on 1 to 2 September IANS via FPJ.
Bandh, curfew and first deaths
During a PAAS bandh, curfew was imposed in parts of six cities, about 5,000 paramilitary personnel were rushed in and police reported three deaths in Ahmedabad. Prime Minister Narendra Modi appealed in a televised address: "The only 'Mantra' must be 'Shanti' (peace)" PTI via Business Standard. The army was called in the same day Governance Now.
Toll rises to eight
Police said six people had been killed in firing by police and paramilitary forces and two in clashes: four in Ahmedabad, three in Gadh village of Banaskantha and one in Mehsana. Curfew covered nine towns and cities Governance Now.
High Court orders a probe
The Gujarat High Court ordered the Ahmedabad police commissioner to inquire, within two weeks, into allegations that police fired in the air and damaged property, after CCTV footage showed policemen vandalising cars Business Standard.
Custodial death inquiry
A court ordered an inquiry into the death of Shwetang Patel, 28, detained on 25 August. Police said he fell unconscious in custody; a second post-mortem ordered by the High Court found a brain haemorrhage from a head injury, his family's lawyer said AFP via Gulf News.
How many died
Counts differ: 8 per police on 27 August Governance Now; 10 including one policeman per PTI and IANS PTI via Deccan Herald IANS via Gulf News; 13 in a 2018 PTI report PTI via LatestLY; and 14 per The Mooknayak in 2025 The Mooknayak. The policeman was constable Dilip Rathva, in Surat. The chargesheet says 203 police personnel were injured and about Rs 40 crore of property damaged National Herald.
Allegations of police excesses
Claim · Residents and PAAS Videos that surfaced after 25 August showed policemen in helmets smashing car windows and going into the Shahibaug area. Police were also accused of firing on protesters before trying other ways to disperse them Gulf News. Videos shared online were said to show police damaging private property, using force on residents and making sexualised threats against women The Logical Indian.
This is very disturbing. If police does this, what is the difference between rioters and the protectors? What is the message that will go to people?
Justice J B Pardiwala, Gujarat High Court, 27 August 2015 (Times of India via CJP)
The Tribune reported that the CM and the Minister of State for Home both denied ordering Hardik's arrest. Police later said they were only trying to "shift" him to a "safe place" Tribune. The state government said it had formed a committee to find the police officials responsible Business Standard.
On a private complaint accusing then police commissioner Shivanand Jha and other officers of "unnecessary and illegal action" at the GMDC ground, a metropolitan court ordered an inquiry. Testifying in 2018, Hardik called the lathicharge "no less than the Jallianwala Bagh incident" PTI via LatestLY. No outcome of this complaint or the police inquiries was found in published reporting.
Both accounts
PAAS and protesters' account
Hardik denied that protesters started the violence. He accused the police of trying to "disrupt" the movement at the behest of the political establishment and said the agitation would intensify PTI via Business Standard. He demanded Rs 35 lakh (Rs 3.5 million) in compensation for the families of those killed and blamed police excesses. PAAS also said that either Patidars should be put on the OBC list or reservation should be scrapped Gulf News. In court his lawyer objected that the charges treated a demand for reservation as akin to waging war against the State SCC Online.
Gujarat government and police account
Government's position Government spokesperson Nitin Patel said: "It is all conspiracy of defame the government and opposition was also involved in the violence that happened in the state." He said the agitation "has become political" Business Standard. Police said the two men killed in Vastral died when a mob tried to snatch a policeman's rifle and it went off PTI via Business Standard. Investigators said PAAS leaders spread misinformation that Hardik had been wrongfully arrested, and that this triggered the riots National Herald. In court the prosecutor said Hardik used WhatsApp and social media to mobilise the community and "overawe" the state government SCC Online, and called his conduct "seditious" IANS via Business Standard.
The sedition cases and Hardik Patel's jail term
On 3 October 2015 in Surat, Hardik spoke to a young man, Vipul Desai, who had announced he would kill himself for the cause. Hardik told him: "If you have so much courage...then go and kill a couple of policemen. Patels never commit suicide." He later clarified that he meant no harm Governance Now.
On 18 October Rajkot police detained him on his way to the India-South Africa one-day international, which he had threatened to disrupt. On 19 October he was arrested for allegedly insulting the national flag. By then Surat police had registered a sedition case under Section 124A of the IPC at Amroli police station, along with Sections 115, 153A, 505(2) and 506 IANS via Gulf News. Separately, the Ahmedabad crime branch arrested him and three aides on charges of sedition and criminal conspiracy over the August violence Tribune. The High Court later struck down the Section 153A charge in the Surat case but upheld the sedition count National Herald.
On 8 July 2016 Justice A J Desai of the Gujarat High Court granted him bail in both sedition cases, on condition that he stay outside Gujarat for six months SCC Online. Bail in the Visnagar case followed on 11 July, with a bar on entering Mehsana district PTI via Deccan Herald. He had been in jail for about nine months Deccan Herald.
The 10% quota ordinance and the High Court
Government's position The state first gave financial help to students from poorer families in the unreserved castes through resolutions dated 7 October 2015 and 5 April 2016. It then issued Ordinance No. 1 of 2016 on 1 May 2016, reserving 10% of seats and government posts for economically weaker sections of the unreserved castes LiveLaw. Families earning up to Rs 6 lakh a year were eligible LiveLaw.
On 4 August 2016 a bench of Chief Justice R Subhash Reddy and Justice V M Pancholi quashed the ordinance. The bench held that it was a reservation, not merely a classification, and that it took the total above the 50% limit set in Indra Sawhney. It also found the ordinance was based on a committee report with no scientific analysis or empirical study LiveLaw. The state said it would appeal; Hardik welcomed the ruling: "We welcome the order, as we always wanted reservation as per the Constitution" PTI via Business Standard. On 22 August 2016 the Supreme Court agreed to hear the state's appeal and said no admissions should be made under the quota in the meantime LiveLaw.
After Parliament passed the constitutional amendment for a 10% quota for economically weaker sections, Gujarat began applying it from 14 January 2019 Free Press Journal Deccan Herald. In August 2018 the state also announced eight loan and aid schemes for families in unreserved castes Outlook.
The 2017 election and Hardik Patel's party switches
PAAS backed the Congress in the 2015 local body polls and in the 2017 Assembly election Scroll. In December 2017 the BJP won 99 of 182 seats, seven above the majority mark, and the Congress won 77 Scroll. The BJP lost two of three seats in Patidar-dominated Morbi district Scroll.
On 25 July 2018 a Visnagar sessions court sentenced Hardik to two years in prison for rioting and arson in the July 2015 case. The High Court suspended the sentence but not the conviction, so he could not contest the 2019 Lok Sabha election LiveLaw. He joined the Congress on 12 March 2019 in Rahul Gandhi's presence Scroll and became working president of its state unit in July 2020 PTI via Tribune. On 12 April 2022 the Supreme Court stayed his conviction until his appeals are decided LiveLaw.
Hardik resigned from the Congress on 18 May 2022 and joined the BJP in Gandhinagar on 2 June 2022. Asked whether he had joined to escape the two sedition cases, he said he was always a patriot and would accept the court orders PTI via Tribune. He contested Viramgam for the BJP in the 2022 Assembly election and won The Pioneer.
Withdrawal of cases
- 2016: Deputy CM Nitin Patel said in October 2016 that 416 of 438 agitation cases had been withdrawn SabrangIndia.
- March 2022: The state withdrew 10 more cases; a sedition case against Hardik remained pending ETV Bharat.
- February 2025: The government announced withdrawal of nine chargesheeted cases, including both sedition cases, with four more under review Deccan Herald.
- March 2025: An Ahmedabad sessions court allowed withdrawal of the Ahmedabad sedition case and discharged Hardik and four others under Section 321 of the CrPC Tribune.
- December 2025: A Surat court allowed withdrawal of the Surat sedition case against Hardik and three others; his lawyer said a state notification had ordered closure of nearly 90% of agitation cases National Herald.
- June 2026: A Surat court allowed the withdrawal of a 2018 unlawful assembly case against Hardik and four others from a later pro-reservation rally The Pioneer.
Critics questioned the withdrawals. National Herald wrote that sedition "appears to be a flexible concept in Gujarat" National Herald.
Outcome
- Deaths: 8 to 14 by source; most say about 10, including constable Dilip Rathva.
- Injuries: 203 police personnel, per the chargesheet; hundreds of civilians, per IANS.
- Security: Curfew in at least nine towns, army and about 5,000 paramilitary personnel deployed, mobile internet cut for about a week.
- Arrests: Hardik Patel held about nine months from October 2015.
- Courts: Police-conduct probe ordered in 2015; EWS ordinance quashed in 2016; Visnagar conviction in 2018, stayed in 2022.
- Policy: No OBC status for Patidars; national 10% EWS quota applied in Gujarat from January 2019.
- Cases: Most withdrawn between 2016 and 2026, including both sedition cases.
What is still pending
The OBC demand was never granted. The Supreme Court stayed Hardik's Visnagar conviction only until his appeals are decided, and no ruling on them, or findings from the 2015 police and custodial-death inquiries, were found in published reporting. In February 2025 the government said four more cases were under review Deccan Herald.
Questions people ask
What was the Patidar quota agitation?
A campaign begun in Gujarat in July 2015 by the Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti, led by Hardik Patel, to include the Patidar community in the OBC quota. It peaked with the 25 August 2015 Ahmedabad rally and the violence that followed.
How many people died in the Patidar agitation?
Early police counts gave 8. PTI and IANS later used 10, including one policeman, and later reports gave 13 or 14. Police said several deaths came from police and paramilitary firing.
Why was Hardik Patel charged with sedition?
Surat police booked him over an October 2015 remark telling a young man to kill policemen rather than himself, and Ahmedabad police accused him of conspiring to spread the August violence. Courts allowed both cases to be withdrawn in 2025.
Did Patidars get OBC reservation?
No. A state 10% quota for poorer families in unreserved castes was quashed in 2016. Gujarat applied the national 10% EWS quota from January 2019.
Which party is Hardik Patel in now?
He joined the Congress in March 2019, left in May 2022, joined the BJP on 2 June 2022 and won Viramgam in the 2022 Assembly election.
Sources
- Tribune: Gujarat tense as Patels' rally for reservation turns violent, 26 Aug 2015
- Tribune: 'Excessive police force' led to Gujarat violence, 31 Aug 2015
- PTI via Business Standard: OBC quota: 3 killed in violence, bandh paralyses life in Gujarat, 26 Aug 2015
- Governance Now: Gujarat tense, death toll in Patel quota stir rises to 8, army out, 27 Aug 2015
- Business Standard: Hardik Patel heads to Delhi as Gujarat returns to normalcy, 27 Aug 2015
- Gulf News: Court orders probe into alleged police excesses in Gujarat, 27 Aug 2015
- CJP (reproducing Times of India): Footage shows cops no different from rioters: HC, 28 Aug 2015
- The Logical Indian: Cops vandalising private properties, HC orders probe, 28 Aug 2015
- AFP via Gulf News: Protester's death fuels tension in Indian state, 28 Aug 2015
- IANS via Free Press Journal: Ban on Gujarat mobile internet services lifted, 3 Sept 2015
- Governance Now: Sedition charge slapped on Hardik Patel, 19 Oct 2015
- IANS via Gulf News: Hardik Patel held for insulting national flag, 19 Oct 2015
- IANS via Business Standard: Gujarat opposes Hardik's bail plea, says behaviour seditious, 5 May 2016
- SCC Online: Hardik Patel granted bail in sedition cases, but with strings attached, 11 July 2016
- PTI via Deccan Herald: Hardik gets bail in Visnagar case, set to be released, 11 July 2016
- LiveLaw: Gujarat HC quashes 10% quota for economically weaker sections of upper castes, Aug 2016
- PTI via Business Standard: Guj govt to challenge HC order, Hardik Patel welcomes verdict, 4 Aug 2016
- LiveLaw: SC puts on hold Gujarat's 10% quota for EWS, 22 Aug 2016
- SabrangIndia: Gujarat govt withdraws 95 per cent cases registered during Patidar agitation, 24 Oct 2016
- PTI via Outlook: Hardik Patel appears before court in vandalism case, arrest warrant cancelled, 26 Oct 2017
- Scroll: Gujarat elections 2017: BJP wins majority, Congress ups seat share, 18 Dec 2017
- Scroll: BJP fails to win major Patidar bastions, Congress makes inroads, 18 Dec 2017
- Outlook: Gujarat's big idea to counter new Hardik Patel juggernaut, 13 Aug 2018
- PTI via LatestLY: Hardik likens police action on quota agitators to 'Jallianwala Bagh' episode, 19 Nov 2018
- Free Press Journal: 10 percent quota in Gujarat from today, 14 Jan 2019
- Scroll: Hardik Patel joins Congress in Ahmedabad, 12 Mar 2019
- ETV Bharat: Gujarat govt withdraws 10 cases related to 2015 Patidar agitation, 22 Mar 2022
- LiveLaw: Supreme Court stays conviction of Hardik Patel in Patidar quota protest violence case, 12 Apr 2022
- PTI via Tribune: Hardik Patel joins BJP in election year, 2 June 2022
- Deccan Herald: A brief history of the Patidar agitation, 30 Oct 2022
- Deccan Herald: Gujarat govt to withdraw 9 cases linked to 2015 Patidar quota stir, 7 Feb 2025
- The Mooknayak: Gujarat withdraws sedition charges against Patidar leaders, 7 Feb 2025
- Tribune: Court allows Gujarat govt's plea to withdraw sedition cases against Hardik Patel, 4 others, 2 Mar 2025
- National Herald: Surat court allows govt plea to lift sedition case on BJP MLA Hardik Patel, 18 Dec 2025
- The Pioneer: Surat court allows withdrawal of 2018 case against Hardik Patel, 24 June 2026