Hardik Patel joins BJP, says will be a soldier under Modi's leadership

Gandhinagar, Jun 2 (PTI) Patidar leader Hardik Patel joined the BJP on Thursday, days after quitting the Congress.

He was welcomed in the party by BJP Gujarat unit president C R Patil and former deputy chief minister Nitin Patel.

"Today, I am going to start a new chapter keeping in mind the interests 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," Hardik tweeted earlier on Thursday.

राष्ट्रहित, प्रदेशहित, जनहित एवं समाज हित की भावनाओं के साथ आज से नए à¤à¤§à¥à¤¯à¤¾à¤¯ का प्रारंभ करने जा रहा हूँ। भारत के यशस्वी प्रधानमंत्री श्री नरेन्द्र भाई मोदी जी के नेतृत्व में चल रहे राष्ट्र सेवा के भगीरथ कार्य में छोटा सा सिपाही बनकर काम करूँगा।

— Hardik Patel (@HardikPatel_) June 2, 2022

Hardik (28) who led the Patidar quota agitation in 2015, joined the Congress in 2019.

He resigned from that party on May 18, after claiming in a letter to Congress chief Sonia Gandhi that the party "only played to the role of a roadblock" over certain key issues in the country and was "merely reduced to opposing everything".