Raghu Sharma, AICC in-charge of Gujarat on Wednesday evening said Patidar leader Hardik Patel's resignation from the Congress party was a "politics of dishonesty, betrayal". He also claimed that Patel was in touch with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for the last six months.
Sharma said, "This is politics of dishonesty, of betrayal. He was a star campaigner in the recent 5-state elections. He was bad-mouthing BJP in UP, Uttarakhand and Punjab. What happened overnight?"
"The letter issued by him has not been drafted by him. He has just signed it. He was in touch with BJP for the last 6 months for the withdrawal of cases against him. This is politics of opportunism and nothing else. Gujarat understands this," he added.
Congress leader and party spokesperson Shaktisinh Gohil also launched a scathing attack on Patel, calling him "dishonest" and an "opportunist", and claimed that youth leaders who have switched to the BJP have been reduced to "zero".
"Hardik Patel has not written anything and his resignation letter has clearly been dictated by the BJP... the pen and the face are ours and the script is that of the BJP. It (resignation letter) is completely bogus and has no truth in it," Gohil told reporters.
Gohil said the Congress gave opportunities to youth leader Hardik Patel and made him the working president of the Gujarat Congress, but he was lured by the BJP.
"The BJP has got Hardik Patel to resign by using all means, including getting a CD on him, and used agencies like Enforcement Directorate and CBI and used all measures that were below the belt," he alleged.
"There are cases of sedition, rioting and many others and he can't contest elections," he said and claimed the BJP government has approached the High Court to take back the cases against him.
"Since then this plot was clear that Hardik Patel is moving with the BJP to get cases against him withdrawn," he said.
Congress spokesperson Ragini Nayak while sharing Patel's resignation letter on Twitter said, "After reading the letter, looks like Modi ji gave the dictation last night."
Youth Congress chief BV Srinivas also shared his letter and said, "The 'letter' about defeating the 'truth' has come, Every word of it is of the BJP..!" In another tweet, he said, "No Caption Needed !!" and shared a tweet by Hardik Patel where he spoke of never changing sides and of continuing his fight while being in the Congress till his last breath.
