The convenor of North Gujarat, Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS), Narendra Patel, in his statement to the press on Sunday alleged that BJP offered him Rs 1 crore to join the party.
As the Assembly Elections are nearing, BJP seems to be getting restless, trying to use every possible tactic to get the support of all the communities, who are somewhat unhappy with the ruling government in Gujarat. The Patidars which hold almost one-fifth of the total population of Gujarat are not getting along very well with the ruling BJP government in the state.
It has been over two years that the Patidars under the leadership of Hardik Patel are protesting against the BJP government demanding reservation for the community. To maintain peace in the state and is an attempt to continue good relations with one of the oldest vote bank of the party, BJP even promised to agree to some of the demands of the Patidars but failed to fulfil any.
Though BJP is ruling the state for 22 years but now with Narendra Modi, no more to focus only on the state and with Dalits, OBCs, Patidars and Muslims discontent with the Vijay Rupani government, the party is fearing anti-incumbency in Gujarat.
As per the announcement of the Election Commission, though the date is still not finalized but the assembly elections will be held before 18 Dec. In the prevailing situations, as the BJP is losing faith and support, Congress after a long time is getting successful in grabbing the attention of the people and made its presence be felt in the state.
Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi has been visiting the state quite frequently and the party is on its toes running a rigorous campaign and giving a tough fight to BJP.
Congress has also invited the leaders of Dalits, OBCs and Patidars to join the party and fight the elections against BJP. Though none of them has given a clear stand as for now, but all these communities seem to be unhappy with the incumbent government and there are possibilities that they extend their support to Congress.
Patidar leader Hardik Patel, however in his statement to the press had said that it is good that Congress made the proposal but he is not interested in fighting any elections. He also indirectly extended his support to Congress saying that he is fighting to defeat the BJP in Gujarat. He was also spotted with Rahul Gandhi when the Congress leader had begun the election campaign from Saurashtra.
As per the latest updates, Patidar leader from North Gujarat, Narendra Patel on Sunday dropped a bombshell on BJP, making the situations even more troublesome for the party. In a press conference, Narendra confessed that BJP had offered him 1 crore to join the party. His allegations against BJP comes just after two other Patidar leaders joined BJP.
Giving the details he said that Patidar leader Varun Patel who joined the BJP on Saturday evening took him to meet Gujarat BJP President Jitubhai Vaghani and other leaders on Sunday. He said that “Varun took me around in Gandhinagar and then took me to Shree Kamalam office of the BJP and introduced me to Jitubhai Vaghani and some ministers. He then took me to a room and handed over a bag of Rs 10 lakh cash as token and promised to pay me Rs 90 lakh tomorrow after a party function which I was required to attend.”
Just a few hours before he made the allegations, he was welcomed with a saffron scarf in front of the media cameras and the whole scenario looked like Patel accepted the money and joined the party. However, later in his statement Patel said that “It all happened in so much hurry, they immediately called the media to present me and I had to make that show.”
The Patidar leader also added that even if BJP offered him the entire amount in the RBI, he would rather choose to die fighting for the rights of the Patidars, than join BJP. “They made a deal of Rs 1 crore on me. One crore? Even if they bestow the entire Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on me, I will not be bought over. Even if I have to die, fighting for the cause,” Patel claimed.
He also displayed the pile of Rs 10 lakh that was offered to him after his statement. Narendra Patel, last month had lodged a police complaint against Hardik Patel and three supporters in Patan in North Gujarat but later withdrew it.
Soon after the revelation of Narendra Patel, another Patidar leader, Nilhil Sawani, who had recently joined BJP issued a statement. He said that “heard about Rs 1 crore offer by BJP to Narendra Patel, I’m upset. I’m leaving BJP today. I will seek Rahul Gandhi’s appointment, meet him and put forward my viewpoint.”
Responding to the allegations made by Narendra Patel, the newly joined BJP member Varun Patel said sarcastically said that “Why did he display only Rs 10 lakhs during the press conference, why not Rs 1 crore? The Patidar community is leaning towards the BJP. Congress is playing political games.”
BJP as for now has not reacted to the allegations.