In an interview to News18.com, Gujarat Congress working president Hardik Patel says the party’s relentless campaign against Vijay Rupani government’s mishandling of Covid-19 pandemic and unemployment in the state “made the BJP nervous”, which is why he had to quit.
With the BJP choosing a Patel chief minister ahead of the 2022 assembly polls, Hardik says a CM belonging to one particular community “doesn’t matter to the people of Gujarat”. “The CM belongs to not just one community, he belongs to all people of the state,” says the young Patidar leader.
Here are the excerpts from his interview:
The sense is that Congress has lost its 2017 momentum. It got wiped out in local polls, leadership is confused and cadre is low. Are you confident as the working president that the Congress can deliver in 2022?
Why did Vijay Rupani have to resign? It’s because of the Congress campaign against him over joblessness and Covid-19 mismanagement. We took up the cause of ‘kisans’ (farmers) and also those who lost their job. And many suffered because of Covid. The Rupani government has added to the miseries of the people and did not deliver. And we made the BJP nervous and it was because of our pressure that Rupani had to go. This clearly shows that Congress matters and we are powerful. And we will show in 2022 that we will matter.
Your Patidar agitation had put pressure on the state BJP and also Anandiben Patel, which is why she was changed. But now, with a Patel being a CM do you think the BJP has an edge?
The CM belongs to not just one community, he belongs to all people of the state. The six and a half million people of the state deserve a CM who considers them their own. For a CM belonging to one community doesn’t matter much to the people of Gujarat.
What will be the issues, which the Congress will raise in state polls?
First, I am thankful to the top leadership for having chosen someone as young as me as the working president. There are many issues, which have angered the people of Gujarat. But the two main ones, which we have been focusing on and will continue to, are joblessness and Covid-19. And we believe that the people are so angry that they will throw out the BJP this time.
Yet when the PM comes and does campaigning there, everything changes. Gujarat is his home state. We saw that he took out so several rallies last time, which turned the tide in favour of the BJP.
Yet, the Congress lost by only 10 votes. This shows that the PM is not a factor. Look, the people of the state want to go to a CM who will solve their problems. Why should they go to the PM? You can’t expect the people of Gujarat to keep rushing to Delhi to find a solution to their problems. Gujaratis need a CM not a PM.
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