In a major embarrassment to Congress, Jamnagar Rural MLA, Vallabh Dharaviya resigned from the party yesterday to join the BJP. Dharaviya’s resignation, which came a day ahead of the Congress Working Committee meeting which is being held in Ahmedabad, marks 4th resignation in a short span from a sitting Congress MLA who quit the party to join the BJP.
Prior to him, Congress MLAs from Manvadar, Unjha and Halvad Dhrangadhra had resigned and joined the BJP. Jasdan MLA Kunvarji Bavaliya had resigned last year to join the BJP. Meanwhile, Patidar agitation leader, Hardik Patel, who was sentenced to two years in prison for rioting, today formally joined the Congress and is even participating in the Congress Working Committee meeting.
With Hardik joining Congress formally, it would be interesting to see the dynamics between Patidar quota leader and Alpesh Thakor, another Congress MLA and an OBC leader from Gujarat. He has been fighting for the reservation SC, ST and the OBC are entitled to and proper implementation of the prohibition law. Of course, his father, Khodabhai Patel was a Congress leader and Alpesh had earlier opposed Hardik Patel’s Patidar agitation and cracks were seen between two ‘friends’. During the run-up to the Gujarat assembly elections, in his attempt to support farmer loan waiver, Thakor had emptied milk cans on the roads as a mark of protest.
Hardik, on the other hand, during the BMC polls in Mumbai in 2017, Hardik Patel had joined hands with Shiv Sena and campaigned against the BJP. As of now, Patel is now reduced to a troll on Twitter, with little relevance on the field. In September 2018, Patel had gone on an indefinite fast, where despite not having food, it was reported that he had actually gained weight.
Hardik Patel, who was once the face of Patidar agitation in Gujarat, is now convicted for causing riots in Mehasana. Hardik Patel has been found guilty of charges related to arson and creating a ruckus at the office of BJP MLA Rushikesh Patel. He is also accused of large-scale violence in the state of Gujarat during the 2015 Patidar Andolan seeking reservations for Patidar community. A sedition case is also going on against him in an Ahmedabad court.