Hardik Patel to switch parties | Why Congress's loss is BJP's gain in poll-bound Gujarat

Disgruntled Gujarat Congress leader Hardik Patel is all set to join the Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) on June 2, days after resigning from his old party and months ahead of state elections scheduled later this year.

Patel, who had joined the Congress a little over three years ago, was the working president of the Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee before he quit on May 18.

The 28-year-old Patidar leader’s resignation from the grand-old party was expected. He had been publicly criticising the central and state leadership of the Congress for many weeks, saying he was not being allowed to work.

READ |  Former Congress leader Hardik Patel to join BJP on June 2

Patel, who rose to prominence in 2015 when he spearheaded an agitation for quotas in jobs and education for his Patidar caste, had maintained that he would not quit the Congress until he tweeted his resignation letter on May 18.

Congress's loss in poll year

Patel’s exit is a big loss for the Congress in poll year, especially after setbacks in recent assembly elections in five states. Gujarat goes to the polls later this year.

In the one-page letter addressed to Congress president Sonia Gandhi, Patel said it had become difficult to stay on in the party when its top leadership lacked the seriousness to fight for issues concerning the people.

The resignation came a day after the Congress’s three-day brainstorming session "Chintan Shivir" in Udaipur that he reportedly skipped. Two other veteran leaders, Kapil Sibal and Sunil Jakhar, have quit the Congress party since the brainstorming session.

Patel is considered the face of the Patidar community,  a staunch supporter of the BJP.  In the 2017 assembly polls, he was said to have played a key role in helping the Congress win 77 seats and restrict the BJP to 99 in the 182-member house. Since then, however, the Congress has lost 14 lawmakers to the BJP due to defections and defeats in by polls. The Congress currently has 63 legislators in the Gujarat assembly.

Also read | Congress to field those below 50 in half of seats in Lok Sabha, state polls from 2024; to fix retirement age in legislatures

“When you get newly-emerged revolutionaries to the party and raise their status overnight, this is what is bound to happen. He (Patel) got more than what he deserved in the party and when he saw the party was not doing well, he left. Amid all this, it is the old-timers who can just wait and watch,” a Congress leader had said after Patel's resignation.

Patel joined the Congress In March 2019, in the run-up to the Lok Sabha election, and was immediately made its working president for Gujarat.

The Congress has accused Patel of singing the BJP’s tune and said that his resignation letter was “dictated by the BJP”. Gujarat Congress leader Shaktisinh Gohil had reminded Patel of his criticism of the BJP in the past.

Sources said Patel wanted to lead the Congress in Gujarat but the party chose Jagdish Thakor, a party veteran, as the state president in December 2021. Patel’s demand that the Congress project him as its chief ministerial face for the upcoming Gujarat election was also turned down, they said.

Also read | Congress decides on key reforms to put house in order, resolves to re-establish lost connect with people

A Congress leader who did not want to be named said that Congress has found an alternative in Mevani, who won the 2017 election as an independent candidate from Vadgam. Mevani, who shot to fame following his agitation over atrocities against Dalits in Una in 2016, has already said he will contest the next state polls on a Congress ticket.

BJP's gain

Patel's entry into the BJP was also imminent. His resignation letter had enough indications about his next step, though he had been denying it. In the letter, he  praised the BJP-led Union government, accusing the Congress of only playing a hindering role. Last week, he sent out a tweet paying tributes to Hindutva ideologue Veer Savarkar on his birthday.

भारत माता के वीर सपूत, प्रखर राष्ट्रवादी एवं महान चिंतक श्री विनायक दामोदर 'वीर' सावरकर जी की जन्म जयंती पर उनका पुण्य स्मरण। pic.twitter.com/uPo6Gmgl22

— Hardik Patel (@HardikPatel_) May 28, 2022

“Be it building the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya, revocation of Article 370 from Jammu and Kashmir, implementation of GST (goods and services tax)—India wanted solutions for these subjects for a long time and Congress only played the role of a roadblock and was always only obstructive," he said in the letter.

Also read | Congress' Chintan Shivir | Hindutva to leadership issues, some unanswered questions remain

Patidars or Patels are considered an influential caste in Gujarat, constituting about  1.5 crore of the state’s six crore population. The community is said to have an influence in at least 70 of the 182 assembly seats in the state that has seen many Patidar chief ministers, including Chimanbhai Patel, Keshubhai Patel, Babubhai Patel and Anandiben Patel.

The Bhupendra Patel-led BJP government in the state has already moved to have cases registered against Patel in 2015 during the Patidar quota agitation dismissed. On May 9, the Ahmedabad court allowed the state government to withdraw criminal cases against Patel. He has also got a reprieve in the sedition case filed against him in 2015 as the Supreme Court has stayed proceedings in all sedition cases.