NE NEWS SERVICE
AHMEDABAD, APRIL 14
The Congress in Gujarat on Thursday suffered yet another jolt when one of its prominent leaders from Saurashtra, Indranil Rajguru, joined the Aam Aadmi Party.
इंद्रनिल राजगुरु जी एवं वसरामभाई सागठिया जी का मैं आम आदमी पार्टी में स्वागत करता हूँ। हम सबको मिलकर गुजरात के लोगों की हर उम्मीद को पूरा करना है। pic.twitter.com/JX8TNTfEjF
— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) April 14, 2022
Rajguru, a Brahmin, figured in the list of vice presidents appointed by the party for Gujarat. He, however, was not happy because many of his supporters had not figured in the list of vice presidents and general secretaries appointed by the party.
Sources said that state Congress president Jagdish Thakor had promised that Rajguru’s men would be included later on, but that did not happen.
A former Congress MLA, Rajguru has influence in Rajkot and Saurashtra region. In 2017, he had contested, unsuccessfully, against former Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani of the BJP. He was one of the richest candidates to contest the assembly elections in 2017.
Along with Rajguru, two corporators — Vasrambhai Sagathia and Komalben Barai —also joined AAP. In Rajkot Municipal Corporation, the Congress had only four corporators, of whom two have now joined the AAP.
In mid-2018, Rajguru had resigned from the party and later re-joined it.
Talking to the media after joining the AAP, Rajguru said that he joined the party because Arvind Kejriwal works for society. He said that he finds the AAP as the best option among the three main parties to work for society. He met with Arvind Kejriwal in Delhi on Wednesday.
Rajguru said that he had no personal problems with the Congress, but he joined the AAP because he found something lacking in the Congress that was needed to topple the BJP.
GPCC leaders harassing me, want me to leave party, alleges Hardik
Gujarat Congress working president Hardik Patel on Thursday alleged that the leaders of his party’s state unit were harassing him and want him to leave the party. Patel also said that although he had taken up the issue of his harassment with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi many times, no action has been taken to address his grievances.
भारत रत्न डॉ॰ बाबासाहब आम्बेडकर साहब की जयंती के अवसर पर आज सूरत में विशाल जनसभा को संबोधित किया। गुजरात के विकास में सभी समाज का सहयोग रहा हैं। गुजरात की शांति और सलामती के लिए सभी समाज में एकता ज़रूरी है, इसीलिए मैंने आज तक गुजरात की जनता को बेस्ट देने का प्रयास किया हैं। pic.twitter.com/c1FoODc3Dg
— Hardik Patel ( Modi Ka Parivar ) (@HardikPatel_) April 14, 2022
Patel had attained prominence when he spearheaded the Patidar community’s campaign in Gujarat in 2015 seeking reservations under the OBC category. However, his popularity shrank after he joined the Congress in 2019 as he had earlier promised that he would never enter politics.
Although the Congress benefited due to quota agitation in the 2017 state assembly elections, the Patidar community did not support the party in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls or subsequent municipal or panchayat elections after Patel joined it.
“I am being harassed so much that I feel bad about it. Gujarat Congress leaders want that I should leave the party,” Patel told PTI Bhasha in a telephonic interview.
आज मेरे निवास पर प्रदेश के विभिन्न पत्रकार बंधुओं से वार्तालाप किया। pic.twitter.com/peR4BylovA
— Hardik Patel ( Modi Ka Parivar ) (@HardikPatel_) April 13, 2022
“I am more pained because I have represented the situation to Rahul Gandhi many times, but no action has been taken by him against Gujarat Congress leaders,” he said.
The Congress’s plan to rope in chairman of the Khodaldham Temple Trust Naresh Patel, a prominent Patidar face, ahead of 2022 state polls has apparently angered Hardik, who believes that his clout as Patidar leader will be finished if Naresh Patel joins the Congress party, reports PTI.
“You used Hardik in 2017, you want to use Naresh bhai in 2022 and in 2027 you would use another Patidar leader. Why don’t you support and strengthen Hardik?” he said.
“They should take Naresh bhai, but will they treat him like the way the way they did to me?” he asked.
Hardik said despite being a working president of the party’s state unit, no work has been given to him.
“I am not called to attend important meetings or not made part of any decision making process,” he claimed.
He said that it was due to his Patidar quota agitation that the Congress benefited in the 2017 elections. He also alleged that the Congress in Gujarat is a divided house and the party has not been able to gain power in the last 30 years due to infighting. Hardik said he has no plans to leave the Congress.