While Thakor & Patel, once considered close to Rahul Gandhi, contested this Gujarat election on BJP tickets, Mevani, who had won in 2017 as an Independent, is now with Congress.
While Alpesh Thakor and Hardik Patel are members of the BJP, they can no longer join forces within the party. Jignesh Mevani is a lone ranger in Congress.
Hardik Patel rose to prominence in 2015 on the back of Patidar quota agitation. He joined Congress in 2019, and was made its Gujarat unit working president in July 2020.
BJP sources say Alpesh Thakor is expected to join before announcement of Lok Sabha poll dates, Gujarat Congress chief says 'no such thing is happening'.
OBC leader Alpesh Thakor says he's got ‘best interests of Congress’ in mind, but BJP sources say he’s in talks with party, might switch sides before elections.
Hardik Patel has definitely helped Congress made some gains in Saurashtra and Mehsana; in North Gujarat, Congress wins 15 out of 27 seats while BJP bags 11 seats.
In tactical terms, the shirtless protest was worse than a self-goal. Suddenly, the fiascos of the AI Summit were forgotten, and the Youth Congress’s disruption became the issue.
IAF is fine with accepting the aircraft with 'must-haves', even if some other steps remain pending, which may take at least another year, it is learnt.
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