Ahmedabad:

Congress backed PAAS leader Hardik Patel is not allowing the government doctors to investigate his health since last evening. This may raise question on genuineness of his fast because only medical test would formally show progress of his fast.

Even after the results of his blood and urine tests done simultaneously by his private as well as government doctors recently matched, he has not allowed the government doctors to take his blood/urine samples since last evening.

This is seemingly yet another tantrum and somewhat ‘mysterious’ behaviour of Hardik who after starting his much-hyped but so far fiasco-like fast-unto-death at his Greenwood resort resident on the outskirts of the city on August 25 has apparently failed to produce any expected public response so far.

Hardik had made tall claims about public reaction and revolution once he started the fast but no big protest has happened yet. He left water during his fast (may be in the hope that it would give some boost to his event) but had to eat the humble pie and start drinking water again with no response from people or ruling BJP which has categorically said that he was a proven agent of Congress and was doing the ‘gimmick’ with the hope of some political mileage to the party in the coming Loksabha poll.

Congress which has so much on stake with Hardik’s latest stunt is seemingly trying all out to help him and keep alive the issues.

Many of the leaders of the party were visiting him at his residence after second or third line leaders of some other parties came to him despite his claims of arrival of leaders like Mamta Banerjee, Uddhav Thackrey, Arvind Kejriwal’s arrival soon after the start of his fast. Today Shaktisinh Gohil paid a visit to him and Kejriwal made a tweet in his favour. Yesterday JNU leader Kanhaiya Kumar had tweeted in his favor. Earlier Narmada Bachao Andolan leader Medha Patkar had announced support to Hardik.

He also declared his ‘will’ yesterday which his opponents see as another desperate gimmick to get some public sympathy. A handful of his supporters were getting themselves tonsured and some were sitting here and there on fast but all of this has failed to give his event the kind of ‘boost’, the PAAS camp expects.

Meanwhile, Superintendent of Sola Civil Hospital Dr. Aajesh Desai confirmed that Hardik was not allowed the government doctors team stationed near his residence to check his health and take blood/urine samples since last evening.

‘A patient can’t be forced by doctors for medical examination in such cases. He is not allowing our team but our doctors are stationed near his house for any medical help,’ he said.

Hardik’s aide and private Dr. Abhayrajsinh Zala is doing the routing health investigations. Hardik’s aides allege that the government check-up and test-results were not up to mark.

Meanwhile, a senior doctor said that by taking water Hardik can pull on a little longer with his fast. ‘The traces of acetone in his urine sample shows that there was starvation. Had he not started taking water again, he would not have continued even for a few days. But with water a man like him with some fat in his body can pull on for some time,’ he said.

The doctor also said that it was wrong on the part of PAAS camp to think that the tests in the sola civil labs could be faulty. ‘Every day around 2500 such tests are done in that reputed government hospital and based on these reports thousands are treated and many cured,’ he added.

Hardik had started his fast on August 25 at his Greenwood resorts locality residence close to SG Highway after refusal of the official permission for it outside due to violence in the past during such events.

DeshGujarat