AAP invites Hardik Patel to join party

Hardik, however, on Friday denied that he would quit the Congress

A day after Gujarat Congress working president Hardik Patel hit out at the party leadership alleging that he was being harassed and sidelined, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Friday invited him to join the party. 

AAP’s Gujarat president Gopal Italia on Friday invited Mr. Patel and Khodaldham Trust president Naresh Patel to join the AAP, saying that the party was better placed to take on the BJP in the State. 

He said that the AAP was a “like-minded” party for both Mr. Hardik and Mr. Naresh, who want to take on the BJP in the Assembly election. 

Mr. Hardik, however, on Friday denied that he would quit the Congress. He had slammed the leadership, including former president Rahul Gandhi, on Thursday. 

Speculation is rife that he may quit over infighting in the State unit as he has not been assigned any specific work despite being the working president of the party. 

Gujarat Congress president Jagdish Thakor said he and other leaders of the State would reach out to Mr. Hardik and sort out the differences. 

The AAP is trying to expand its footprint in Gujarat in the run up to the next Assembly election. The party wants to be a third player in the State where the polity has remained bipolar between the BJP and the Congress in the past two decades.