Hardik Patel set to join BJP today; says ‘will work for nation’s service under PM Modi’s leadership’

Hardik Patel, who had joined the Congress in 2019 and was later made the state unit’s working president, quit the party earlier this month and was later made the party’s Gujarat unit.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Hardik Patel had led a violent agitation seeking quota for his Patidar community in 2015
• He has been a strong critic of the BJP in the past
• The then BJP government in Gujarat had even booked Patel in several cases

Hardik Patel is all set to join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday, in the presence of Gujarat party president CR Paatil. The former Congress leade’s move to join the saffron party comes ahead of the Gujarat Assembly elections due later this year. The BJP has been in power in the state for over two decades.

Taking to Twitter, Patel on Thursday said he is beginning a new chapter from today.

“Will work as a soldier for the welfare of the nation under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” Hardik Patel tweeted in Hindi.

Hardik Patel also performed a ‘pooja’ at his residence in Ahmedabad today morning, ahead of joining the BJP.

Meanwhile, posters welcoming Hardik Patel to BJP were seen outside the party office in Gujarat’s Gandhinagar.

Patel, who had joined the Congress in 2019 and was later made the state unit’s working president, quit the party earlier this month. Since then, there were speculations that he may join the ruling BJP.

Of late, he has been praising the BJP’s decision-making capacity and style of functioning, while severely criticising the Congress leadership.

Before quitting the Congress earlier this month, Hardik Patel had written a scathing letter to party chief Sonia Gandhi, claiming the Congress “only played the role of a roadblock” over certain key issues in the country and was “merely reduced to opposing everything”.

Hardik Patel and the Patidar quota

Patel, 28, had in 2015 led a violent agitation seeking quota for his Patidar community and was a strong critic of the BJP in the past. Ten people, including a policeman, were killed in the violence then and public properties and vehicles were damaged.

The then BJP government in Gujarat had booked the firebrand leader in several cases, including on the charge of sedition.

He had also been charged under various Indian Penal Code Sections, including 121(A) (conspiracy to wage war against government) and 120 (B) (criminal conspiracy), in which he is out on bail since 2016.

Hardik Patel had then positioned himself as a vocal critic of the BJP, accusing the party and its governments in the state and at the Centre of being against the poor, farmers and youth.

He later joined the opposition Congress in March 2019, ahead of the Lok Sabha polls. But, it was not possible for him to contest the parliamentary election due to his conviction in a rioting case.

Notably, the Supreme Court last month stayed his conviction in a rioting and arson case.

The BJP government also recently took steps to withdraw several cases lodged against Hardik Patel and others in connection with the 2015 quota agitation.

(With inputs from PTI

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