May 18, 2022: In a huge blow to the Congress party in Gujarat, Gujarati Patidar leader Hardik Patel has quit the party just months before the Gujarat election. In a long resignation letter to Congress president Sonia Gandhi, he took aim at Rahul Gandhi, saying, "Our leader was abroad when he was needed in India during critical times."

The Congress leadership "strongly dislikes Gujarat and has no interest in the state", he said, adding that the Congress "has been rejected in virtually every state because they have no roadmap to present to the people."

The Patidar activist joined the Congress in 2019, just before the Lok Sabha election. He was made the Working President of the Congress in Gujarat, a post that he said had meant little in his years in the party.

"I am gathering the courage to resign from the Congress party and post. I am sure my decision will be welcomed by my colleagues and the people of Gujarat. I believe that with this step, I will be able to work positively for Gujarat in future," Hardik Patel wrote in a Twitter post sharing his resignation letter.

He is likely to join BJP.