Stung by the resignation of Patidar leader Hardik Patel from the party, the Gujarat Congress on Wednesday came down heavily on him alleging that his reasons for quitting were a BJP-sponsored narration.
Reacting to Hardik’s statements about the Congress leadership, Rajya Sabha MP and Gujarat Congress leader Shaktisinh Gohil said nobody had stopped Patel from meeting Rahul Gandhi. He was sharing a stage with Rahul Gandhi. “There is a thin line between internal democracy and indiscipline,” Gohil said.
Hardik Patel took a jibe at the state Congress leadership stating that the leaders are more focused on ensuring that the leaders from Delhi get “chicken sandwiches on time.” He said the Gujarat Congress leaders were the least bothered to address real issues of Gujarat.
As against this, Hardik Patel who often referred to Union Home Minister Amit Shah as General Dyre during his Patidar agitation has now praised the BJP policies of building Ram Mandir in Ayodhya, revocation of Article 370 and implementation of GST.
He said India wanted these solutions for a long time and the Congress party only played the role of a “roadblock and was always only obstructive”.
In his resignation letter addressed to Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, Patel claimed that a lack of seriousness about all issues is a major problem with the Congress party’s senior leadership. “Whenever our country faced challenges and when Congress needed leadership, party leaders were enjoying abroad! Senior leaders behave in a way like they hate Gujarat and Gujaratis”.
“How in the world can Congress then expect that the people of Gujarat will see them as an alternative to lead our state?”, he added.
Hardik said during his three years in the party, he found that the Congress party and its leadership both at the central and state level have been merely reduced to opposing everything.
Patel mocked the state leadership stating that workers like him “travel 500-600 km in our cars in a single day to meet people” and added that “those big leaders of Congress in Gujarat who are least bothered to address real issues in Gujarat and common people can’t even meet them.”
