Tag: naresh patel congress

Hardik Patel to Join BJP on June 2, Says Party

Since Patil quit Congress, speculation had been rife that he would join BJP.

New Delhi: Former Patidar quota agitation leader Hardik Patel, who recently left Congress, will join Bharatiya Janata Party on June 2, the BJP said on Tuesday, May 31.

Patel’s move comes ahead of the Gujarat assembly elections due later this year. He will join the party in the presence of Gujarat BJP president C.R. Paatil, a state BJP spokesperson Yagnesh Dave told the news agency PTI.

Patel has been a strong BJP critic. In 2015, during the Patidar quota agitation, the then BJP government in Gujarat had booked the firebrand leader in several cases, including on the charge of sedition.

Patel joined Congress in 2019 and was later made the state unit’s working president. Since he quit the party with a searing resignation letter, which he made public on Twitter, speculation had been rife that he would join BJP.

In the letter, Patel claimed that Congress leaders had lost grassroots connect and were more intent upon ensuring timely “chicken sandwich for leaders who have come from Delhi.”

The BJP government had recently withdrawn some cases lodged against Hardik Patel and others in connection with the 2015 agitation.

Appearing to openly side with BJP, in his parting letter, Patel also accused Congress of opposing “whatever the government of India led by Narendra Modi did”.

With Vadgam MLA Jignesh Mevani and former Radhanpur MLA Alpesh Thakore, Patel had formed a trio of young leaders who had emerged BJP’s main challengers in Gujarat.

Thakore had left Congress and joined the saffron party in 2019. Mevani, an independent who supports Congress, has recently been charged in a number of cases, one of which a court called “false” and another for tweeting criticism of Narendra Modi.

‘Gujarat Congress Busy Ensuring Timely Chicken Sandwich for Delhi Leaders’: Hardik Patel Quits Party

Adding fuel to rumours that he is likely to join BJP, Patel also accused Congress of opposing “whatever the government of India led by Narendra Modi did”. 

New Delhi: Gujarat Patidar quota agitation spearhead Hardik Patel on Wednesday said he has resigned as the Gujarat Congress working president as well as from the party’s primary membership.

The decision comes before the Gujarat assembly elections, later this year.

Patel submitted his resignation letter to Congress president Sonia Gandhi. The letter, tweeted by him, is fiercely critical of the Congress, which recently completed a three-day brainstorming session in Rajasthan to revive the party.

“Today, after mustering courage, I am resigning from the party post and primary membership of the Congress. I hope my followers and people of Gujarat will welcome my step. I believe that I will be able to serve the state better after this step,” he tweeted.

In the letter, Patel claims that Congress leaders had lost grassroots connect and were more intent upon ensuring timely “chicken sandwich for leaders who have come from Delhi.”

“Senior leaders behave in a way like they hate Gujarat and Gujaratis,” Patel also said.

Adding fuel to rumours that he is likely to join Bharatiya Janata Party, Patel also accused Congress of opposing “whatever the government of India led by Narendra Modi did”.

With Vadgam MLA Jignesh Mevani and former Radhanpur MLA Alpesh Thakore, Patel had formed a trio of young leaders who had emerged BJP’s main challengers in Gujarat. Thakore had left Congress and joined the saffron party in 2019. Mevani, an independent who supports Congress, has recently been charged in a number of cases, one of which a court expressly labelled as “false”.

Patel had been one of the working presidents of the Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee. The 2022 Gujarat assembly polls are likely to be the first elections which he can contest. Charged in various cases related to the Patidar quota agitation, he had not been able to contest either the last assembly and 2019 parliamentary polls. He has since been cleared of all charges.

Patel had recently been critical of the Congress and in late April, dropped the party’s name from his Twitter description.

Gujarat: Prashant Kishor’s Plan for Congress Hinges on Naresh and Hardik Patel

Even as speculation is rife that the poll strategist may join the grand old party ahead of the 2024 general election, the immediate focus appears to be the assembly election in Gujarat.

Even as it appears imminent that political strategist Prashant Kishor is expected to associate with the Congress party as a key planner for the Gujarat polls, it is public knowledge that he wishes powerful Leuva Patel leader Naresh Patel to play a major role, while ensuring that the young Hardik Patel, a Kadva Patidar, remains integral to the system.

Speculations are also rife that Prashant Kishor may even join the Congress party ahead of the crucial 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

Three meetings took place between national Congress leaders with Naresh Patel, who heads the Khodaldham Temple Trust. The Leuva Patel leader has considerable influence in his sub-sect in the politically significant Saurashtra region.

Nares Patel’s first meeting on Friday was with the national general secretary and a close Gandhi family aide K.C. Venugopal, before a separate meeting with Kishor. This was followed by another conference with Congress president Sonia Gandhi, Kishor and Venugopal. A final call would be taken once Rahul Gandhi returns from abroad around May 15.

According to reliable AICC sources in Delhi, the key point that Kishor and Naresh Patel insisted on at the meetings was that it was crucial not to let Hardik Patel leave the party in view of the recent noises he has made about being given short shrift in the party, while simultaneously praising the BJP leadership. Hardik’s Patidar agitation played a stellar role during the run-up to the December 2015 civic bodies elections as well as the 2017 assembly polls when the Congress gave its best performance in three decades.

After returning to Rajkot from Delhi, Naresh Patel, who had all along kept his cards close to his chest as to which party he would eventually join, told reporters at the Rajkot airport, “I had met Prasant Kishor. I will announce my decision by May 15.” That is when Rahul Gandhi returns from abroad and the Congress leadership would have one final meeting with Naresh Patel.

Both the warring sects of the Patidars — the Leuvas and Kadvas — are estimated to constitute around 1.5 crore people of Gujarat’s 6.5 crore population. Patidars or Patels claim to be the descendants of Lord Ram; the Leuvas and Kadvas claim to have descended from Ram’s twin sons, Luv and Kush respectively. The Leuvas worship Khodal Ma as their clan deity, while the Kadvas worship Umiya Mata.

Even the Gujarat Congress sources reveal to Vibes of India that the anti-BJP tone the agitation gave birth to is still alive.

“We need Patidars to fight and win the elections against BJP, especially the Leuvas and Kadvas who constitute around 15 per cent of the state’s electorate,” a newly appointed AICC state in-charge secretary of Gujarat Congress said.

In Central, North and South Gujarat, the BJP had maintained its presence with a total of 76 seats in the 2017 elections.

A senior Indian-Political Action Committee (I-PAC) member told VOI that it’s evident that Patidars have a strong influence on around 50 seats in Gujarat, the majority of which are in the Saurashtra region.

“If Congress can give the right electoral candidature to Naresh Patel and keep a hold on Hardik Patel, then the chances are higher that the other Patidar community organisations such as Umiyadham Sidsar in Saurashtra; Umiyadham and in North Gujarat; Vishva Umiya Foundation and Sardardham in Central Gujarat; Surat-based Samast Patidar Samaj in South Gujarat and Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) will align as pro-Congress”.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is also trying hard to fish in the troubled waters by keeping its door wide to welcome influential leaders.

Notably, in the recent 2021 Surat Municipal Elections, AAP has won 8 seats out of 27 in Patidar-dominated areas where quota agitation led by the community leaders in 2015 had taken place. The Patidars had supported the Congress after 2015 but preferred the AAP over the grand-old-party this time around.

“Patidar community leaders had proposed a specific number of tickets in the Surat civic polls which the Congress had denied. Then the AAP won 27 seats with a vote share of 28.58 per cent, while the Congress which did not win a single seat saw its vote share go down by 9.23 per cent”, the I-PAC source told VOI.

This article was first published on Vibes of India.