Ahead of joining BJP, Hardik Patel performs pooja, calls himself 'small soldier' serving nation under PM Modi

Pic: ANI

Gandhinagar (Gujarat): Ex-Congressman and Gujarat Patidar leader Hardik Patel is all set to join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) today (Thursday, June 2) and said he will work as a "small soldier" to serve the nation under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Patel performed a pooja at his residence in Ahmedabad, ahead of joining the BJP. "With the feelings of national interest, state interest, public interest, and social interest, I am going to start a new chapter from today. I will work as a small soldier in the noble work of service to the nation under the leadership of the successful Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi," Patel tweeted.

Gujarat | Hardik Patel performs 'pooja' at his residence in Ahmedabad.

He will be joining Bharatiya Janata Party today. pic.twitter.com/AqMboWjs7e

— ANI (@ANI) June 2, 2022

BJP welcomes Hardik Patel 

Posters welcoming Hardik Patel to the Bharatiya Janata Party were put outside the party office in Gandhinagar ahead of the former Congress leader's induction into the BJP.

Gujarat | Today I'm starting a new chapter. I will work as a small soldier. We will do an event every 10 days in which the people including MLAs who are unhappy with Congress will be asked to join (BJP)...PM Modi is the pride of the entire world: Hardik Patel in Ahmedabad pic.twitter.com/WXtsWgASDd

— ANI (@ANI) June 2, 2022

Hardik catapulted to the political centre stage in 2015 when he spearheaded the Patidar reservation agitation in Gujarat, building the campaign in the run-up to the 2017 state Assembly elections. Initially, Patel demanded the OBC status for the Patidar community. Subsequently, it was transformed into a demand for reservations for the Economically Weaker Section (EWS). With the BJP government accusing Hardik of fomenting trouble, the Anandiben Patel-led Gujarat government kept on slapping cases on Hardik during the Patidar quota agitation.

In fact, Hardik Patel's emergence on the political scene in the state put the then chief minister Anandiben Patel in a spot. In 2016, Anandiben Patel announced her resignation from the post. Ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Patel joined Congress in the presence of Rahul Gandhi. He, was then, appointed as the working president of the Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee in Gujarat in 2020. However, he accused Congress leadership of sidelining him while making important decisions and eventually quit the party in 2022. On May 19 this year, Patel resigned from the party and stated that Gujarat Congress leaders were least bothered to address real issues of the state but were more focussed on ensuring that the leaders who come from Delhi to Gujarat get "chicken sandwich" on time.

He had also alleged that Gujarat Congress leaders tried to disrupt his political effort "sitting in the AC chambers". Meanwhile, Gujarat Congress chief Jagdish Thakor has claimed that Patel decided to quit the party as he was afraid that he might have to go to jail in sedition cases registered against him. Hardik's induction into the BJP is significant as Assembly elections are due this year.

Hardik Patel was once a vocal BJP critic

It was not always all hunky-dory between Patel and the BJP. Although he joined the opposition Congress in March 2019 ahead of the Lok Sabha election, contesting the parliamentary election was not possible for him due to his conviction in a rioting case. He positioned himself as a vocal critic of the BJP and kept targeting the party and its governments in the state and at the Centre for being "anti-poor, anti-farmer and anti-youth".

Since he was convicted in rioting and arson cases, it affected his chances of contesting an election. However, the Supreme Court recently stayed his conviction. Patel, who was charged under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 124(A) (sedition), 121 (A) (conspiracy to wage war against government) and 120 (B) (criminal conspiracy), has been out on bail since 2016.

The BJP government has recently taken steps to withdraw several cases lodged against Patel and others related to the 2015 reservation agitation and the violence that broke out in which 10 persons, including a policeman, were killed and public properties and vehicles damaged.