Ahmedabad, Jan 7 (IANS): Gujarat Patidar reservation leader Hardik Patel on Monday described the Centre's decision to give 10 per cent quota to higher castes based on economic criteria as an election gimmick ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.

Patel told reporters soon after the announcement that "the very fact that the government is coming up with a bill now when there are only two days left for the winter session of Parliament to conclude itself proves that this is a political gimmick".

"This is another lollipop, yet another 'jumla' in the category of Rs 15 lakh promise and two crore jobs," the Patidar leader added.

He said this was meant to attract upper caste votes and people who had diverted towards the Congress in the recent Assembly elections.

Referring to Gujarat, Hardik Patel, who rustled up a state-level agitation for quota for the Patidars, asserted: "It was this government that denied reservation for various different castes citing more than 50 per cent reservation can't be given. How will they do it now?"