Patel youth icon Hardik Patel, who recently resigned from the Congress party, is now all set to join the Saffron party on June 2, as claimed by the sources. Since after quitting the Congress, Hardik Patel has been continuously slamming the Congress leadership. There were speculations that he may join the Aam Aadmi Party, but recently he even lashed out at the AAP in his tweets, making it clear that he will be joining the BJP.
In the 2017 assembly elections, Hardik Patel who initiated the Patel Andolan, had supported the Congress party, due to which its numbers in Saurashtra region increased drastically. At that time, the state govt faced a massive anti-incumbency and the BJP came down to just 99 versus the 78 MLAs of the Congress party. But since then, the Congress is witnessing a continuous shifting of MLAs and other leaders to the BJP. With the AAP emerging as the third party in Gujarat for the first time, the challenges for the grand old party have increased.
As per the reports of Times of India, a senior BJP functionary said: “We do not have any objection to Congress leaders joining BJP, but Hardik Patel has damaged our party. From ground-level workers to top leaders, the majority do not want him to be in BJP.” The Patel Andolan had cost former CM Anandiben Patel her post and the houses as well as the offices of a number of senior BJP members were targeted during the stir. The vandalism was attributed to Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS), which Patel headed. After bursting on to the political scene in 2015 with the quota stir, Patel joined Congress in 2019 and was made state unit working president in 2020. After weeks of bitterness, he finally resigned from Congress by writing a strongly worded letter to party president Sonia Gandhi.
Recently, the grand old party had held its “chintan shivir” in Rajasthan’s Udaipur, but even after that, Sunil Jakhar, Hardik Patel and even had Kapil Sibal left the party. Now with Hardik Patel joining the BJP, the saffron party is expected to get huge gains in Saurashtra region where the party suffered loss in 2017. Last month it was expected that Patel leader Naresh Patel may join the Congress party, but with the closure of the Prashant Kishor chapter, Naresh Patel’s joining too has shelved. Probably in November this year, the assembly elections are to be held in Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat.
