AAP supremo and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal starts his four-day tour of BJP led state Gujrat. Besides addressing a public rally in Surat on October 16, he will meet businessmen, farmers and other sections of the society. His first stop will be in Mehsana, from where the Patidar agitation gathered pace in 2015.

Aam Aadmi Party is keen to make inroads in Prime Minister Gujarat’s home state at a time when Patidars are unhappy with the state BJP government over the issue of reservation and Dalits are holding demonstrations against discrimination.

Kejriwal’s Surat public rally, which is being organised after intervention of the high court over clearance issues, is an attempt to address disgruntled but influential Patidars.

That he was successful in getting support from at least a section of the Patidar agitators was apparent from the fact that PAAS convenor Hardik Patel on Thursday endorsed Kejriwal’s Gujarat visit via a social media post and said state BJP is bent on scuttling AAP efforts to establish itself as an alternative political force in Gujarat.

Kejriwal is also slated to meet family members of Patel youths who died during the reservation stir in 2015.