‘Will work as Modi's soldier’, declares Hardik Patel, who had once said ‘will never surrender to BJP’

Once a fierce critic of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, former Congress leader Hardik Patel, who is set to join the ruling BJP in Gujarat on Thursday, posted a tweet in the morning saying he would work as a "soldier" of PM Modi and start a "new chapter". Patel is set to join the BJP at 12 pm on Thursday.

"Today, I am going to start a new chapter keeping in mind the interest of the nation, region, society and community. I will work as a small soldier in the development work of the nation being carried out under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi," he said in the tweet.

Elections to the 182-member House of the Gujarat Assembly are due by the end of this year.

Patel had earlier led an aggressive agitation to demand quota for the Patidar community and targeted the BJP government time and again. He was a very vocal critic of the BJP in the past. But the BJP government had slapped several cases against him, including that of sedition.

Patel, who had joined the Congress in 2019, resigned from the party recently. After that, there was speculation that he might join the ruling BJP. He had even praised the BJP's decision-making capacity and style of functioning, while severely criticising the Congress leadership.

Patel first came into the limelight in 2015 when he spearheaded the movement demanding reservation for the Patidar community in government jobs and educational institutes. Although he joined the opposition Congress in March 2019 ahead of the Lok Sabha election, contesting the parliamentary election was not possible for him due to his conviction in a rioting case.

He positioned himself as a vocal critic of the BJP and kept targeting the party and its governments in the state and at the Centre for being "anti-poor, anti-farmer and anti-youth". Since he was convicted in rioting and arson cases, it affected his chances of contesting an election. However, the Supreme Court recently stayed his conviction.

Patel, who was charged under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 124(A) (sedition), 121 (A) (conspiracy to wage war against government) and 120 (B) (criminal conspiracy), has been out on bail since 2016.

The BJP government has recently taken steps to withdraw several cases lodged against Patel and others related to the 2015 reservation agitation and the violence that broke out in which 10 persons, including a policeman, were killed and public properties and vehicles damaged. 

Old videos, posts surface

Netizens meanwhile questioned if it is the same Hardik Patel, who had openly made scathing attacks against the BJP, PM Modi and Amit Shah, and is now joining the same party. Meanwhile, Hardik Patel's old tweets which he made against the BJP, PM Modi and Amit Shah stand deleted.

A video is doing the rounds where he is heard saying (in Gujarati), "I am a son of a man, I will never surrender by joining BJP. We are the son of farmer. We will fight and struggle, but we will not surrender to the BJP."

Another viral video on social media platforms is from 2017. Hardik Patel is heard saying, "We just asked for our rights, what we got in return lathicharge. Our young Patidars were killed, women were assaulted. We were cheated, Patidars were cheated. Should we forget everything and join them? No. Now it is time to take revenge."

Here are some of the other videos and social media posts from the past where Hardik Patel attacked BJP and its leaders:

*Hardik Patel has attacked PM Modi several times in the past. At an interview during India Today Conclave 2018, Hardik Patel attacked PM Modi, saying, "Khul ke virodh karta hu, zara bhi chupata nahi, dum lagakar Modi ka virodh karta hu, dadagiri se virodh karta hu (Openly and without any fear I oppose Modi, I do not hide or fear).”

*In April 2019, Hardik said, "In the last 5 years Modi ji did nothing except touring country. He is 'Publicity Minister'."

*In another instance, during the time when PM Modi's ‘chowkidar’ slogan was coined, Hardik Patel had said, "I would go to Nepal to find a chowkidar or watchman but our country needs a Prime Minister."

*On June 2, Hardik Patel will be joining the BJP at state head office Kamalam in Gandhinagar. Just 5 months back, Hardik Patel said he would break the BJP's office on some issues.

*Hardik Patel had compared Amit Shah to General Dyer many times in the past. Taking a jibe at Amit Shah in 2017, Hardik Patel said, "BJP mein sahi logo ko samman nahi diya jata, lekin jo log Amit Shah ke pairo ki juti bankar rehta hai usko aage kiya jata hai (BJP doesn’t give respect to the right people, but those who follow Amit Shah are pushed forward)."

*Hardik Patel also hit out at the BJP in October 2018, saying, "Hindu Muslim ka Chashma utar kar dekho to BJP aapko bilkul nangi aur besharam nazar aayegi (If you remove the Hindu-Muslim lense, BJP will appear shameless to you)."

*He had also attacked the RSS in January 2017. "RSS desh ko apna gyan kyu baant rahi hai. Nagpur se baithe baithe desh ko chala rahe hai aisa bhram hai RSS ko. Savidhan bada ya RSS," Hardik Patel has said.

*Another viral tweet is from December 2016, where Hardik Patel had taken another jibe at the BJP, saying, "Agar subha ka deshdrohi shaam ko BJP mein jud jaye toh usse deshbhakt kehte hai (If someone who is called a traitor in the morning joins the BJP in the evening, he is called a nationalist)."