Find a way to keep me in party, Hardik Patel tells Congress

Hardik Patel, working president of the Gujarat Congress, has urged the high command to find a way to ensure he remains with the Congress.

“I am in the Congress currently. I hope the central leaders find a way so that I continue to remain in the Congress. There are others who want Hardik to leave the Congress. They want to break my morale,” he tweeted on Tuesday while sharing the clipping of an interview to The New Indian Express.

Worry for Congress

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.

Also read: Hardik Patel denies joining BJP, but finds ‘some things good’

With the Gujarat Assembly elections scheduled to be held later this year, Patel’s public outbursts do 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.

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. “My position in the party is that of a new groom who has been made to undergo nasbandi (vasectomy),” a NDTV report quoted him.

“Many in Congress also feel that Hardik Patel was not properly utilised by the party after 2017. It may be because some people in the party would think that I would come in their way after five or 10 years if I am given significance today,” he said.

Praising BJP sets off buzz

He set off buzz in political circles a couple of days ago by praising BJP’s decision-making capabilities. Many thought that Patel would join the ruling party in state, given his disenchantment with the state Congress. But he scotched the rumours by saying that he had no plans to join the BJP. “No, there are no talks. I am not thinking of the BJP and I am not talking to the BJP,” he said.

“The recent decisions that BJP has taken politically, we have to accept that they have the strength to take such steps. I believe that without even taking their side or praising them, we can at least acknowledge the truth. If the Congress wants to become strong in Gujarat, then we have to improve our decision-making skills and decision-making power,” Patel told NDTV.

In The New Indian Express interview, Patel said that as he is the party’s working president, he should be given some responsibility. “For instance, I should be given the charge of any zone of Gujarat, the way the Congress does in other states.”

He also raised questions on the restructuring of the state Congress that took place recently. “Good and hardworking people should have been given place during the recent state Congress restructuring. Instead they have ‘my’ or your’ people,” Patel said in the interview.

Also read: Upset Hardik Patel says Cong treating him like groom made to undergo ‘nasbandi’