Former Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti member Reshma Patel, who had joined the BJP in 2017, lashed out at her party on Monday accusing it of doing politics of “destruction” and not of development.
Reshma, a close aide of PAAS leader Hardik Patel, also threatened that she would campaign against the party in the Lok Sabha elections if her demands were not met. In a letter to Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, Reshma had raised five points including giving job to one person in each families of those who lost lives in the Patidar agitation.
Reshma has also demanded that the age criteria for those appearing in competitive examination from non-reserved category be made 40 years, similar to that of other states.
A mother of twins, who lives away from her children and husband and had played a significant role in the Patidar agitation, Reshma said that it was only when she joined the BJP that she realised that the party was into “vote bank politics”.
“Promises made to me before I joined the party have not been fulfilled and instead instructions have been given to me not to take up any agitation,” Patel said.
Reshma, who has been vocal for quite some time over a slew of issues, told THE WEEK that she was not leaving the BJP. Asked what if the party suspended her, she said that it was up to the party to take a call, if it considered what she was doing as indiscipline.
Replying to a question on whether Varun Patel was also facing similar “suffocation”, Reshma said while she would not be able to comment more on behalf of Varun, he has always supported the issues she had raised. Varun, also a close aide of Hardik, had joined the party along with Reshma.
Without naming the Congress, Reshma said the opposition used to speak a lot of things about the BJP, but she did not believe all that as she was not from a political party and was connected to a social platform (read Patidar agitation). It is only when she joined the BJP that she realised how the party was, Reshma added.
