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.
Patel, who last month quit Congress after "feeling ignored" by the party high command, is all set to join the BJP today. Before joining the party, he performed 'pooja' at his residence in Ahmedabad.
Earlier today, heaping praise on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Patel said he will work as a "small soldier" to serve the nation under the leadership of the Prime Minister.
"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.
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). His 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.
Hardik's induction into the BJP is significant as Assembly elections are due this year.
( With inputs from ANI )
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