A day after resigning from the Congress, activist Hardik Patel on Thursday accused the party of not speaking about problems concerning Hindus, PTI reported.
Patel, who had quit the party months ahead of the Gujarat Assembly election, said that the Congress is never vocal about matters such as the Citizenship Amendment Act, the Ram temple in Ayodhya or the claimed discovery of a shivling – a representation of Hindu deity Shiva – at the Gyanvapi mosque in Varanasi.
“There are many Mahadev [Shiva] devotees in India,” Patel said during a press conference in Ahmedabad, according to India Today. “If a Shivling is recovered from a masjid [mosque] or some other place, it should connect our faiths. We should openly welcome this. But our [Congress] leaders tend to move away from decisions in favour of Hindus. This is hurting Congress.”
The Patidar leader added that he has not taken a decision on his future course of action.
“For the past two days, there has been a discussion that Hardik will go to the BJP [Bharatiya Janata Party] or Aam Aadmi Party,” he said, according to The Indian Express. “I [will] tell you honestly that there is no such plan. And if there will be any, I will make a decision with pride. I will tell you [public] upfront that I am going to take this decision.”
At the press conference, Patel also accused the Congress party of being “casteist” and “anti-Gujarat”.
He alleged that the party attacks industrialists such as Mukesh Ambani and Gautam Adani as they belong to the state of Gujarat.
“Adani and Ambani have become rich with their hard work,” he added. “And in Gujarat, even the smallest person or the smallest entrepreneur would dream to be Adani or Ambani. Every person would look up to a big businessman as a role model. Instead of that, we have been listening to Congress leaders abusing Adani-Ambani for the past seven years.”
Patel also claimed that a long queue of leaders and workers were waiting to quit the Congress party.
Meanwhile, the Congress alleged that Patel had resigned from the party as he was afraid that he might have to go to jail in sedition cases, reported PTI.
“Hence, to save himself from the possible punishment, he decided to quit Congress and he might join the BJP as well,” party leader Jagdish Thakor said.
Limited-time offer: Big stories, small price. Keep independent media alive. Become a Scroll member today!
Our journalism is for everyone. But you can get special privileges by buying an annual Scroll Membership. Sign up today!