Hardik Patel bids adieu to Congress, resigns as working president of Gujarat

Ahmedabad (Gujarat) [India]: In a major blow to the Congress party ahead of the upcoming Assembly elections in Gujarat, Gujarat Congress Unit’s working president, Hardik Patel has tendered his resignation from the primary membership of the Congress Party on Wednesday.

Hardik Patel, an estranged Congress leader tweeted from his official Twitter handle saying, “Today, I have gathered the courage to resign from the post and primary membership of the Congress party. I am sure my decision to leave Congress will be welcome by my colleagues and the people of Gujarat. I believe through my decision, I will be able to work for Gujarat proactively in the future”

Early in May, Patel had removed his party affiliations from his social media biodata as a precursor.

Hardik Patel gained prominence during the Patidar Anamat Andolan (Patidar Reservation protest) in Gujarat in 2015. From a next-door person, Patel gained much popularity as the Patidar leader of Gujarat and he spearheaded the reservation protest across the state.

Patel’s latest grudge against the Congress leadership came after the national exposure of independent MLA, Jignesh Mevani following his arrest by the Assam police. The Congress party galvanized support from Mevani for his early release, which riled Patel according to the people close to him.

Political pundits believe that Hardik Patel, though being appointed as the working president of the Gujarat Congress, never managed to get the limelight and attention of the party leadership. Patel was not on good terms with the Congress leaders in Gujarat after he was appointed as the working president.

The biggest shock to Patel came during the Gujarat Assembly election in 2017 when many of the candidates suggested by him were not fielded, especially in the Surat and Saurashtra regions. Patel’s close confidants including Alpesh Kathiriya were highly upset with the Congress leadership for not giving tickets to the candidates whom they had selected during the Assembly election in 2017.

Patel also praised the BJP for reading down Article 370 and for the construction of Ram Mandir in Ayodhya.

A couple of days ago, Patel and Alpesh Kathiriya had a closed-door meeting with the Khodaldham Trust chief, Naresh Patel.