-1555655863.png "Hardik Patel slapped during a rally in Gujarat")
Ahmedabad, Apr 19 (IBNS): Congress leader Hardik Patel was slapped in the middle of a rally in Gujarat's Surendernagar district on Friday morning.
In a video, a man is seen walking up the stage and slapping the Patidar leader on his right face.
Blaming the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for the incident, Patel said: "BJP wants me to be dead so they are doing such things. It won't help them."
Patel, a strong critic of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the ruling BJP, recently joined the Congress ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.
However, he is not allowed to contest the polls for being convicted in a riot case.
He was convicted by the additional sessions judge at Mehsana in Gujarat in connection with a case in which he was found guilty of rioting and arson during the Patidar quota stir in 2015.
Patel had moved the apex court challenging the order of the Gujarat High Court which had in Aug 2018 suspended his jail sentence but not the conviction.
Image Credit: Screenshot grab from video
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