Hardik Patel Was In Touch With BJP For Six Years, Allege Congress Leaders
NDTV
Hardik Patel indulged in some backdoor dealings with the BJP, Shaktisinh Gohil said and predicted that Hardik would join the BJP in near future.
With Hardik Patel quitting the Congress, the party leaders in Gujarat on Wednesday launched an attack on him, labelling him as "dishonest" and an "opportunist", and also accused him of being in touch with the ruling BJP for the last six years to ensure withdrawal of cases registered against him during the Patidar quota stir.
Mr Patel, who had joined the Congress three years ago, on Wednesday resigned from the party, accusing its top leadership of behaving as if they hated Gujarat and Gujaratis. In his resignation letter to Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, which comes ahead of this year's state Assembly polls, Patel (28) said he was quitting as the Gujarat Congress working president and from the party's primary membership.
Targeting him over the move, senior Congress leader from Gujarat and party's national spokesperson Shaktisinh Gohil accused Mr Patel of betraying his Patidar community for personal gains, while state Congress in-charge Raghu Sharma accused him of indulging in "back door dealings" with other parties and also claimed that he lacked discipline.
Talking to reporters, Mr Sharma said, "Hardik indulged in politics of dishonesty and cheating. Congress made him a star campaigner during the assembly polls to five states. He used to criticise BJP in his speeches. What has changed suddenly? He was in touch with BJP for the last six years to withdraw the cases against him." Although Patel was made the working president of Gujarat Congress, he wanted total control of the entire state party unit, Sharma alleged.