Ex-Gujarat Congress leader Hardik Patel – set to join the Bharatiya Janata Party. He joined the party ahead of elections in prime minister Narendra Modi‘s home state this year. A puja was performed at his residence Thursday morning before his induction ceremony. Visuals shared by news agency ANI showed Patel participating in a small ceremony with two others.
Other visuals showed posters outside the BJP’s HQ in Gandhinagar, showing Hardik Patel below senior leaders. It included Modi, home minister Amit Shah and party president JP Nadda.
Patel also warned his former party they were in danger of losing more ground to the Aam Aadmi Party. AAP having already lost Punjab to Arvind Kejriwal’s outfit.
Announcing his decision on Twitter with a resignation letter marked to party president Sonia Gandhi. Hardik Patel had said he was “gathering the courage to resign from the Congress party and post”. “I am sure my decision will be welcomed by my colleagues and the people of Gujarat. I believe that with this step, I will be able to work really positively for Gujarat in future,” he said.
Hardik in the poster- was once seen as one of the key faces to fight the BJP in its strongest bastion
Hardik Patel, the poster boy and face of the 2015 Patidar quota agitation, was once seen as one of the key faces to fight the BJP in its strongest bastion, Gujarat. With the agitation being one of the toughest challenges for the Saffron party to deal with in the state.
Patel’s entry to the BJP is seen as party’s key step in its bid to woo the Patidars. With an eye on the 2022 state poll. BJP’s efforts to woo the Patidar community have been going on since September 2021. It abruptly removed the then CM, Vijay Rupani, and his entire Cabinet to bring Bhupendra Patel to the post.
While the Patidars constitute less than 15 per cent of Gujarat’s total population, they are a key vote bank in around 60 of the 180 assembly seats in Gujarat. It makes them influential enough to determine the poll outcome.
Patidar community’s hold over state’s politics is mainly driven by their control over businesses, cooperative, construction, and realty sector. Alongwith small and medium enterprises and private education.