Picture an average person who couldn’t achieve anything worthwhile in his life. Picture a Person who completed his graduation after 2 failed attempts, had no social work to showcase, and no extracurricular activities to boast about. Picture Hardik Patel, a man with a blank CV. But he was ambitious and wily. Like an expert predator he lurked in the bushes and waited for the opportune moment to make that calculated leap. Hardik Patel simply jumped on to the Patel Agitation Bandwagon to make the maximum out of it. And he did achieve some success. Hardik Patel is now being wooed by almost all opposition factions in Gujarat. And like a skilled mercenary, he swears loyalty to whoever offers him the bigger share of the pie. That’s right. It was never about the Patels but just one Patel – Hardik Patel.
Hardik Patel was a staunch supporter of AAP, long before he launched the Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS). In 2014, Hardik Patel worked for Aam Admi Party and he appealed people to vote for AAP during the Lok Sabha Election 2014. He even posted anti-Modi tweets and called him dhokhebaaj. During the 2012 assembly election, his close associate Chirag Patel contested against Anandiben Patel from Ghatlodiya constituency as a candidate of Keshubhai Patel’s Gujarat Parivartan Party. A clear proof that most of Hardik’s associates are not working for Patidars but simply working against the BJP.
Hardik Patel supported AAP in 2014 General Elections, supported Congress in the 2015 local civic elections. After the civic polls, PAAS and SPG (Sardar Patel Group) joined hands to vowed to support anyone against BJP. In October 2016, Hardik Patel warmly welcomed Arvind Kejriwal during his Gujarat-visit. He wrote a memorandum to Arvind Kejriwal where he assured full support to the Delhi CM provided that the Delhi CM clears his stance and spells out what he can do for Patidar community. However, the situation changed by May 2017, and Hardik hinted that he can extend support to Congress if the party accepts their demand of including Patidars in the OBC group. He then made it clear that his prime aim is to defeat BJP. Again in July 2017, Hardik Patel then hinted that PAAS core committee is not in favor of joining Congress in Gujarat assembly election although Gujarat Congress in-charge Ashok Gehlot had tried to approach him many times.
When Rahul Gandhi visited Gujarat in September 2017, Hardik Patel greeted him warmly. In a tweet, Patel tweeted, “Congress ke rashtriya upadhyaksh Rahulji ka Gujarat mein hardik swagat hai. Jay Shri Krishna”. Thrilled with such warm welcome, Rahul Gandhi went on wooing the “Patels” during his rally in Saurastra. In a recent interview published in NavbharatTimes, Patel made it clear that PAAS will be supporting Congress and not AAP because AAP has lost its momentum in Gujarat. He said that Congress has agreed to the demands of PAAS, and he is waiting to see the proposals that would be put forward by Congress to meet their demands.
Though Hardik has decided to provide full support to Congress, a prominent member of PAAS Reshma Patel seems skeptical of supporting Congress. Reshma claims in a veiled attack that Hardik and many PAAS leaders have agreed to join Congress and contest the election under the aegis of Congress. Reshma Patel had written a letter to Rahul Gandhi seeking information on how he plans to include Patidars in OBC. She said that if she receives no reply from Rahul Gandhi, then Patidars will not support Congress. On the other hand, Hardik Patel said that if Congress makes tickets available for them, PAAS will support Congress at any cost. It seems like the political startup that PAAS actually is, stands on the verge of a split. Reshma has warned that if Patel agitators forget their main motive and support Congress for political achievements, then it will be a big loss for the movement and they will go down as traitors. She said that political parties are wooing Patel leaders for political support and PAAS leaders are joining Congress thereby drifting away from their main objective.
And this is not for the first time that Hardik Patel is being seen with suspicion.
His ex-aides Ketan Patel and Chirag Patel had written an open letter to him, accusing him of using the Patidar movement for political gains and amassing wealth by usurping the donation money that was meant to help the families of the people who were killed during the protest. Ketan and Chirag had claimed that Hardik has become a crorepati within one year of launching the movement. They have alleged that Hardik and his uncle Vipulbhai purchased luxurious and expensive cars from the money that was collected from people to fund the Patidar movement.