Who Is Reshma Patel? NCP Women's Wing President Convicted For 2017 Protest

Who is Reshma Patel? A Gujarat court sentenced the Member of Legislative (MLA) from Vadgam Jignesh Mevani and the Nationalist Congress Party leader Reshma Patel to a three-month jail term. This sentence was given out in connection with the protest march, held without permission, that the duo were involved in 2017.

The duo, along with Subodh Parmar were convicted for taking out the Freedom March in 2017. Along with these three, 11 other people have been given three months imprisonment and were fined Rs 1000. Mevani was released from the Assam jail last week after he was picked up by the police from Palanpur in Gujarat for an alleged tweet against the Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi.

Patel and others were given this sentence on the charges of unlawful assembly. She was the face of the 2015 Patidar quota agitation and since then has been a firm face of activism and has found her path within politics. The 35-year-old has a strong presence in state politics.

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Who Is Reshma Patel?

She is a native of Bantiya village in Junagadh district of Saurashtra, Gujarat. Patel's limelight moment in politics was her involvement in 2015 when the Patidar quota agitation was at its peak. She held a 21-days fast for the release of the agitators. She became part of the core committee of the Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS), which was founded by Hardik.

Over the years, she also emerged as a critic of the BJP and its leaders like Narendra Modi and Amit Shah. In October 2017, before the Gujarat Assembly election, she joined BJP with Varun Patel, who was close to Hardik. Although in 2019, she parted ways with BJP over unfulfilled promises on the quota agitation.

Post which, she joined NCP and fought the 2019 Lok Sabha election from the Porbandar constituency as an Independent candidate. She lost in the electoral race. Patel is a single mother who is doing her graduation in political science. She is the president of NCP's women's wing and their Gujarat spokesperson.

Feature Image Credit: The Hans India