The Supreme Court on Friday extended the interim protection granted to Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Hardik Patel in connection with a case pertaining to the violence that erupted during a Patidar stir in Gujarat in 2015.
After the landslide victory of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Gujarat Assembly polls, the newly-elected party MLA Hardik Patel on Monday, hours before Bhupendra Patel's swearing-in ceremony, said the party would decide who they want to keep in the cabinet.
Patel, who switched from Congress to the BJP this June, contested the polls from his hometown, Viramgam and won by a margin of 51707 votes. The Patidar quota stir leader contested against Congress' Lakha Bharwad and Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP) Amarsinh Thakore. He got 99,155 votes.
The victorious MLAs unanimously chose Bhupendra Patel as the BJP's Gujarat Legislative Party. Named the party's CM candidate for Gujarat, the outgoing chief minister trounced Congress' Amiben Yagnik by over 1 lakh votes.
Bharatiya Janata Party candidate from Gujarat's Viramgam Hardik Patel cast his vote for the second phase of Assembly polls in the state and said that the party would win with a big margin securing 150 seats.
"I appeal to everyone to vote. BJP has maintained law and order and has worked for the development of Gujarat. I want all Gujaratis to vote for BJP. We should exercise our power to vote as the election is the beauty of democracy," Patel said ahead of casting vote.
Speaking to ANI in an exclusive interview, Hardik Patel said, "I've always achieved success by taking the difficult route. Congress may have been on this seat for 10 years, but this is my 'janmbhoomi', 'karmbhoomi' and 'matrabhoomi'. The people would want to accept me."
When asked about Rahul Gandhi doing a rally in poll-bound Gujrat, Hardik Patel said, " Congress should first do "Congress Jodo" instead of "Bharat Jodo Yatra". The question is whether Rahul Gandhi will come after the elections or before the elections. The people of Gujarat do not want to ent