With the Bharatiya Janata Party establishing a strong lead in the vote counting for the Gujarat Assembly elections starting on Thursday, the BJP’s Viramgam candidate and Patidar leader, Hardik Patel, attributed the party’s victory to work done thus far.
He also emphasised the repeal of ‘Article 370’ from Jammu and Kashmir in 2019. “The elimination of ‘Article 370’ is a BJP victory,” said Patel, who deserted the Congress months before the state elections to join the BJP.
Earlier on August 5, 2019, Modi administration repealed the contentious ‘Article 370,’ which granted the state of Jammu and Kashmir special status.
While aiming for a decisive victory from the seat, Patel stated “We’ll concentrate on the work that has to be done in the next 20 years. There was no rivalry with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). Viramgam ‘forced’ Hardik Patel to win in order to continue the constituency’s growth.”
Patel, who defected from the Congress to the BJP in June, ran against Lakha Bharwad of the Congress and Amarsinh Thakore of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). The Patidar quota politician ran for office from his birthplace of Viramgam, one of Gujarat’s 182 assembly constituencies.
Patel had 73,786 votes as of 1.55 p.m., with counting still ongoing.
