Hardik Patel belongs to which party?

The political career of Hardik Patel started in August 2015 Patidar agitation in Gujarat when he was 22 years old. Patidars (Patels) are dominant upper caste, politically active and economically prosperous community in one of the most prosperous Gujarat state. So, by no parameters, they can get government reservations going by the rule book.

It was a political agitation of job reservation for Patidars probably planted by congress to embarrass Narendra Modi who became PM year back in May 2014. Later Hardik Patel joined congress to start his political innings. This is perfectly ok but there was big flaw in the process.

Within 3-4 days of intense Patidar agitation, thousands of buses and public properties were burnt in August 2015. PM Modi had to appeal to calm down and discuss the matter across the table. The total loss in the Gujarat state was staggering Rs 25000 Crore over a period of one year! This is certainly not the correct way to launch a political carrier.

But in India, things happen this way only. Remember VP Singh raised corruption issue against PM Rajiv Gandhi in mid-1980s when he was thrown out from central cabinet. VP Singh raised the issue of Bofors kickback and Rajiv Gandhi’s Swiss bank account. Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated and later prime suspect Quattrocchi of Italy also died and the investigation headed nowhere. Similarly, Arvind Kejriwal launched his political carrier in 2012 Anna Hazare anti-corruption and Lokpal agitation and made multiple promises like live in non-AC 2 room flat, commute by auto only etc. etc. All those promises proved fake when he became CM with massive mandate in 2015. Similarly, Hardik Patel forgot Patidar agitation issue after joining congress. After realising congress is sinking in Gujarat state, he joined BJP just before 2022 state assembly election and won the election and currently in BJP.

BJP should throw him out from BJP as he was responsible for Rs 25000 Crore economic loss in Patidar agitation. With a massive 156 seats win in 2022 out of 182 seat state assembly, BJP is sitting pretty. Even if Hardik Patel joins any other party or forms a new party with 4-5 followers, BJP will lose nothing. In state like UP, BJP CM Yogi Adityanath is extracting money from communal rioters by openly naming and shaming them and bulldozing their house who refuses to pay compensation. This is a correct approach to prevent property destruction by rioters. Even Supreme Court stated that rioters must pay up. Expressing concern over the loss of lives and damage to public property during agitations, the Supreme Court on 28 November 2017 asked Centre to create courts in every state and union territory to fix accountability for vandalism and compensate the victims of such violent protests. The top court suggested to the Centre that one or more district judges should be given responsibilities in consultation with respective High Courts to prosecute and fix civil liabilities on those responsible for such mayhem.

Picture source: Google / Respective rightful owner

Patidar reservation agitation - Wikipedia

Patidar reservation agitation Demonstration rally at Ahmedabad on 25 August 2015 Native name પાટીદાર અનામત આંદોલન Date 6 July 2015 ( 2015-07-06 ) – 14 January 2019 ( 2019-01-14 ) Location Gujarat , India Also known as Patel quota stir, Patidar Anamat Andolan Type street protest, protest march , procession Cause Seeking Other Backward Class status for the Patidar community Organised by Several Patidar community organisations Outcome 103rd Amendment of the constitution granting 10% reservation to economically weak people Deaths 14 [1] [2] [3] Non-fatal injuries at least 27 citizens [4] and 203 police personnel Property damage Several vehicles, more than 200 buses and public properties damaged across Gujarat Ahmedabad: ₹ 12 crore [5] (120 million rupees) Rajkot: ₹ 1.47 crore [4] (14.7 million rupees) Police department: ₹ 200 crore [6] (2,000 million rupees) Arrests At least 650 [7] Charges 438 cases of different charges (391 withdrawn later) [8] Starting in July 2015, the people of India's Patidar community, [A] seeking Other Backward Class (OBC) status, held public demonstrations across the Indian state of Gujarat . The largest demonstration was held in Ahmedabad on 25 August 2015, and was attended by thousands. Later, there were incidents of violence and arson across the state, resulting in a curfew in several cities and towns. Properties and vehicles worth crores (tens of millions) of rupees were damaged and destroyed. The state returned to normalcy by 28 August. Despite talks with the government, the agitation recommenced and turned violent again on 19 September. The government announced offers of scholarships and subsidies to general category students on 24 September 2015 and a 10% quota of spaces reserved for economically backward classes in April 2016. The 10% reservation was quashed by the Gujarat High Court in August 2016. The agitation lingered on for two more years. In January 2019, the Parliament of India amended the constitution granting maximum 10% reservation to the Economically Weaker Sections of the society. The amendment was challenged in the Supreme Court where its validity was upheld in November 2022. Background [ edit ] In India, the Other Backward Caste (OBC) status invokes affirmative action which provides reserved quotas in education and government jobs . In Gujarat, 27% of the seats in government and education are reserved for OBC, 7.5% for Scheduled Castes and 15% for Scheduled Tribes for a total of 49.5% of all seats. [9] [10] [B] The Supreme Court capped the reservation at 50% in their 1992 judgement in the Indra Sawhney case . [11] In 1981, the Government of Gujarat , headed by Indian National Congress (INC) chief minister Madhavsinh Solanki , introduced the reservation for socially and economically backward castes (SEBC) chiefly Koli caste based on recommendations of the Bakshi Commission. It resulted in anti-reservation agitation across the state, which spilled over in riots that resulted in more than one hundred deat

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patidar_reservation_agitation

SMC suffered Rs 16 crore property damages during Patidar andolan - DeshGujarat

Surat Surat Municipal Corporation(SMC) surveyed losses during Patidar agitation in city. As per primary estimates, the losses are estimated in range of Rs 15-17 crore.

https://www.deshgujarat.com/2015/08/29/smc-suffered-rs-16-crore-property-damages-during-patidar-rampage/