Mumbai: Former Congress leader Hardik Patel, who quit the party last month, joined the Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday, months ahead of the Assembly elections in Gujarat.
He joined the BJP in the presence of party state chief CR Patil at the party head office here.
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Hardik rose to political centre stage in 2015, when he led the Patidar reservation movement in Gujarat, building the campaign for the 2017 state assembly elections. Initially, Patel demanded OBC status for the Patidar community.
Subsequently, this was converted into a demand for reservations for the Economically Weaker Section (EWS). His rise on the political scene in the state landed the then Chief Minister Anandiben Patel in trouble. In 2016, Anandiben Patel announced her resignation from the post.
Ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Patel joined the Congress in the presence of Rahul Gandhi.
Then, he was appointed as the Working President of the Gujarat Congress Committee in Gujarat in 2020. However, he accused the Congress leadership of sidelining him while taking important decisions and eventually quit the party in 2022.
On May 19 this year, Patel resigned from the party and stated that Gujarat Congress leaders were least bothered to address real issues of the state but were more focussed on ensuring that the leaders who come from Delhi to Gujarat get “chicken sandwich” on time.
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