A day after Gujarat Congress working president Hardik Patel lashed out at his party for ignoring him, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Gujarat invited the controversial Patidar leader to quit the Congress party and join the Delhi-based political party.
Speaking to Indian Express, Controversial Patidar leader and Gujarat Congress working president, Hardik Patel on Wednesday had hit out at the party for not consulting him and delaying decision-making on party affairs in the state.
Hardik Patel, who was convicted in a riots case subsequently stayed by the Supreme Court, had asked what the point of making him the working president of the party if he was not being consulted was. The controversial leader said that he is being ignored in the party and added that his position in the party is that of a newly married groom who has been forced to undergo ‘nasbandi’ (sterilisation).
“My position in the party is that of a newly married groom who has been made to undergo nasbandi (sterilisation),” lamented Hardik Patel.
A day after Hardik Patel lashed out at the Congress party, AAP president Gopal Italia said his party was open to welcoming Hardik Patel if he was unhappy in the Congress.
Italia, who is also from the Patidar community and has a close association with Hardik Patel during the Patidar agitation on Thursday, said, “Our doors are open for Hardik Patel, and we will definitely welcome such a revolutionary youth leader of Gujarat. We have seen his acceptability and liking among the Patidar community people.”
The AAP leader said that they have come to know that Hardik Patel is unhappy in the Congress party and wished he should leave Congress to join AAP as a better alternative in the political arena in Gujarat.
“We will extend an invitation to him, and if he agrees and accepts, we will definitely welcome him to the AAP party. We have already extended an invitation to Naresh Patel of Khodaldham trust. We have kept our doors open to all who want to work for the public and are fed up with both BJP and Congress parties,” he added.
The AAP Gujarat chief also claimed that the working style and ideology of Hardik Patel are similar to the working style of the AAP party.
“He has a mass appeal among the Patidar community youths in the state. We have seen Hardik Patel as a young Patidar leader in the Patidar reservation movement in Gujarat, which started in 2015. Naresh Patel is a self-made man who has respect among the Patidar community people for his community service work,” Gopal Italia added.
Hardik Patel had questioned the delay in inducting Naresh Patel into Congress
Hardik Patel had also questioned the Congress party’s delay in inducting Khodaldham trust president and influential Patidar leader Naresh Patel into the party, who is now being wooed by all parties in the state. Hardik Patel said that the delay is nothing but an insult to the entire Patidar community.
“I am seeing on TV that the Congress wants to induct Naresh Patel for the 2022 polls. I hope they do not search for a new Patel for the 2027 elections. Why does the party not utilise the people it already has?”
Hardik Patel also expressed his disappointment over the Congress party not utilising him properly. Speaking to Indian Express, Patel said that it might be because people felt threatened by him within the party.
“I am not invited to any of the meetings of the PCC, they don’t consult me before making any decisions, then what is the point of this post?” Hardik had said.
