Gandhinagar: Former quota agitation leader Reshma Patel joined the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Wednesday, a day after resigning from the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) apparently over the denial of ticket for the upcoming Gujarat Assembly elections.
AAP's Rajya Sabha member and Gujarat co-incharge Raghav Chadha inducted Patel into the party at its state office here and noted that she was a prominent face of the committee that organized the agitation for Patidar quota in Gujarat in 2015.
"I am sure that a personality like hers will greatly benefit the AAP and strengthen its Gujarat unit. It is for the AAP's political affairs committee to decide which candidate will contest from where. Patel's induction into the AAP will not just make an impact on one seat, in one district, but in the whole of Gujarat," Chadha told reporters.
Patel said that she has always raised the voice for the poor and oppressed people and now wants to dedicate her energy and time to "a party with which the future of the people of Gujarat lies." "Arvind Kejriwal has himself come out of a movement. It means he can understand the feelings of the agitators, and that is why today I have joined the AAP. I am sure that under the leadership of Kejriwal and with the dedication of the AAP workers, I will be able to increase my strength and work for the people," she said.
Now as per the sources there are speculations that Reshma Patel is likely to projected from the Viramgam seat by APP, where she will confront Patidar reservation movement leader and now BJP's candidate from Viramgam seat, Hardik Patel. However, there is no official deceleration from APP in this regard.
Before the last Gujarat Assembly elections in December 2017, she joined the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), but quit in 2019 and later joined the NCP. While joining the BJP, she had accused Hardik Patel of being a "Congress agent" who was trying to use the agitation to overthrow the BJP government. (With agency inputs)
