Explained | From Patidar agitation to BJP: A look at Hardik Patel’s political journey

Hardik Patel is likely to contest the upcoming Gujarat Assembly elections on a BJP ticket. 

The story so far: Former Gujarat Congress leader Hardik Patel formally joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday, June 2.

The face of the 2015 Patidar reservation agitation, Mr. Patel resigned from Congress on May 18, alleging neglect towards him and other youth leaders. He is likely to contest the upcoming Gujarat Assembly elections on a BJP ticket. 

Before Mr. Patel rose to fame with the Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) in 2015, he was a member of the Sardar Patel Group (SPG), a Patidar-centred organisation run by Lalji Patel. At the time, SPG was the biggest Patel community social group in Gujarat. In July 2015, the then 22-year-old Mr. Patel floated PAAS with the aim of bringing the Patidar community within the ambit of the OBC reservation quota.

Mr. Patel was a relatively less-known figure before PAAS emerged as a leader in the Patidar agitation. The collective organised its first rally on July 6, 2015, in Visnagar, a small town in Gujarat. From there, the agitation transformed into a mass movement and gained the support of thousands of community members. Multiple protests were organised in Surat, Vadodara, Mehsana and in Ahmedabad where thousands took to the streets to demand reservations in educational institutions and jobs. Mr. Patel and his group consisted mostly of youngsters aggrieved by the high cost of education and lack of employment opportunities. PAAS used social media platforms like WhatsApp, Facebook, and Twitter extensively to garner support for their agitation.

On August 25, 2015, Mr. Patel spearheaded a massive agitation at the GMDC ground in Ahmedabad. In his speech, he said that “we will go to Jantar Mantar also to raise our demand if the state government does not offer a solution”, which was seen as an early indication of his ambitions to take the agitation to a national level. Around five lakh Patidar community members were estimated to have attended the rally.

The rally did spark national interest in the agitation but mostly due to the violence that ensued. Mr. Patel, who had started an indefinite fast after the rally, was briefly detained and the police cracked down on other organisers, claiming they did not take necessary permission before the event. By the time he was detained, incidences of clashes and stone-pelting had already been reported all around the city.

Mr. Patel’s arrest worsened the violence as Patidars clashed with the police. Six buses were also torched. was invoked to impose a curfew and the Army was called in after widespread violence in