Former Congress leader Hardik Patel addresses a press conference after tendering his resignation to Congress interim chief Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday in Ahmedabad on May 19.
Highlights
- Hardik Patel today said that he has not taken any decision yet on joining any other party
- Congress had no vision and that leaders of party were biased against Gujarati people, said Hardik
- Hardik Patel was made the Gujarat Congress working president in July 2020
A day after resigning from the Congress, Patidar leader Hardik Patel on Thursday (May 19) said he has not taken any decision yet on joining any other party, be it the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Gujarat or the new entrant Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).
While addressing a press conference, Patel (28) claimed that Congress had no vision and that leaders of the party were biased against Gujarati people.
Ahead of the Gujarat Assembly polls due later this year, Patel on Wednesday (May 18) resigned from the Congress party, claiming top leaders of the party were distracted by their mobile phones and that Gujarat Congress leaders were more interested in arranging chicken sandwiches for them.
What Hardik Patel said on joining any political party?
Asked if he would join the BJP or the Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party, Patel on Thursday said, "I have not taken any decision as of now on joining any political party, be it the BJP or AAP."
Hitting out at the Congress, he said the party never speaks anything on the issues concerning Hindus, such as the CAA (Citizenship Amendment Act) or on the issue of a 'Shivling' (said to be) found in a mosque in Varanasi.
"Moreover, the Gujarat Congress is too much into caste-based politics. I wasted my three years in this party," Patel said.
He claimed the Congress had no vision and that leaders of the party were biased against Gujarati people, like "Adani and Ambani".
Hardik Patel's resignation letter:
On Wednesday, in his resignation letter to Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, he had accused the party’s top leadership of behaving as if they hated Gujarat and Gujaratis, and said he was quitting as the state Congress working president and from the party's primary membership.
Patel had gained prominence in 2015 after he led the agitation seeking reservation for the Patidar community in the state.
He was made the Gujarat Congress working president in July 2020.
(With PTI inputs)
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