Gujarat Cong busy serving chicken sandwiches to top leaders: Hardik Patel

Gujarat’s prominent Patidhar leader Hardik Patel who resigned from the Congress on Wednesday, conveyed his disillusionment with the party in a strongly-worded letter to party president Sonia Gandhi.

In his letter, Patel wrote that the party “lacked seriousness” on important matters and while top leaders from Delhi were “distracted” by their phones, the Gujarat Congress was more concerned with ensuring that they are served “chicken sandwiches” on time.

“It is unfortunate that workers like us, who travel 500-600 kms in our cars in a single day to meet people, get to see that ‘Big’ leaders of Congress in Gujarat are far away from issues of Gujarat but are more focussed on ensuring that chicken sandwich for leaders who have come from Delhi is delivered on time,” he wrote.

In a scathing attack at Rahul Gandhi, Patel said “Congress leaders were enjoying abroad” when the country was facing challenges.

Patel accused the party of looking down upon Gujarat and neglecting the state, a condition he said which was visible from the state of the regional unit of the party.

“Senior leaders behave in a way like they hate Gujarat and Gujaratis. How in the world can the Congress then expect that people of Gujarat will see them as an alternative to lead our state?” he said.

“Everyone who is active in political and social life must keep working for the people, but it’s almost like the Congress doesn’t want to do anything good for Gujarat. Even when people like me wanted to do something good for the state, all I and my community faced was ridicule and contempt,” he wrote.

Patel, who was inducted into the party by Rahul Gandhi in 2017, said that he is not invited to any meeting of the state Congress unit and he is never consulted before decisions.

Patel submitted his resignation letter to Sonia Gandhi earlier in the day, and shared a copy on Twitter.

“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.

Also Read: Is Hardik Patel joining BJP?

Patel was the face of the Patidar community’s agitation for reservation and had later joined the Congress. But things have not been good between him and the party for the last few months. He has been accusing the Gujarat Congress leadership of sidelining him and not involving him in decision-making.

With the Gujarat Assembly elections scheduled to be held later this year, Patel’s move does not augur well for the party’s chances in the state which is the home turf of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Also, the Aam Aadmi Party is snapping at the heels of the Congress and Patel’s resentment could cost the party dearly.

The allegations he has made against the Congress leadership and the party’s work culture is particularly embarrassing for the Grand Old Party at a time when it is trying to rejuvenate its electoral prospects through brainstorming sessions, the recent being the Chintan Shivir in Rajasthan.

It is speculated that Patel, who is said to be in talks with the BJP for the past few months, is likely to join the party soon.