Hardik calling it quits could make an impact on the Congress as the Gujarat Assembly polls are scheduled for later this year.
Hardik did not find it very hard to walk out of the Congress party, for sure. Till recently Gujarat Congress’s most relevant man, Hardik Patel has come out of the party stranglehold, with sweeping statements that sound like a school kid’s complaints against an irksome classmate. His resignation letter reads akin to a kid’s complaint against a classmate who is a nuisance.
One of the points in his resignation note talks of the irksome manner in which the party leaders stay distracted by their mobile phones. Another allegation goes thus: Gujarat Congress is more interested in ensuring “chicken sandwiches” for them.
However, the manner in which Hardik has left the party could be seen a blow for the Congress in Gujarat, as his words point fingers at Rahul Gandhi himself. This is significant because it was Rahul Gandhi who brought Hardik Patel into the party fold in 2019.
Hardik quits even as party readies revival plan
The exit of Hardik Patel needs to be seen in the context of the revival plan the party has been readying over the past few days. An ill-timed move for the party, Patel will also make an impact as he goes out of the party considering that the Gujarat Assembly elections have been scheduled for later this year.
When Rahul visited Gujarat recently, he made no effort to meet and talk to Hardik separately, and the Gujarat leader was obviously miffed. And when he called on the Congress top leaders, they were more interested on staying focussed on their mobile phones than lending an ear to Patel on the issues that needed attention in Gujarat. And when yatras were taken out, the Gujarat leaders of the Congress were more concerned about grabbing their chicken sandwiches and not listen to the people as they tried to air their problems.
Hardik Patel, a Patidar leader with a sizable mass of followers, has also unleashed a veiled attack on Rahul Gandhi saying that the leader was abroad at a time when he was needed in India. All these apart, when he alleges that the Congress leadership strongly dislikes Gujarat and has no interest in the state, it needs to be taken seriously at least by the powers at the high command of the party. With the Congress being side-lined by voters in almost every party of the country, the outgoing Hardik’s words are to be seen as a correction call by the leaders.
Congress roadmap for the future, a must
Instead of making efforts to pacify him and make him stay, the Congress leaders have been exhibiting immature behaviour by stating that his resignation has been dictated by the Bharatiya Janata Party that is looking to rope him in. Though Hardik has time and again clarified his stance of a no-truck with the BJP, the Congress leaders are still going about saying that he will soon join the BJP.
With the Gujarat polls round the bend, Hardik’s exit should be seriously discussed by the Congress party. A zero-roadmap would take the party nowhere. Let’s hope the party would take criticism on its stride and do something to stay in the limelight.