HARDIK FACTOR WON’T HELP CONGRESS: PARTY’S SECRET REPORT

‘Now that Hardik has made it obvious that he is with Congress, his following among the Patidars is not likely to translate into anti-BJP votes.’

The Gujarat unit of the Congress has made an internal assessment, which has revealed that the party is “unlikely to benefit from Hardik Patel’s endorsement” of it in the upcoming Assembly elections in the state, say highly-placed sources. Sources within the Gujarat unit of the Congress told The Sunday Guardian that as per the secret report, which has been shared with the high command, Hardik could have successfully split the Patidar votes if he had maintained neutrality, but by moving close to the Congress, he has diluted his impact on the state’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.

“The Congress is not likely to benefit by playing the Hardik Patel card. The Gujarat Congress’ internal assessment is that if he had kept campaigning against the BJP in an independent capacity, he would have been able to break the consolidation of the Patidars behind the BJP. But now that he has made it obvious that he is with us (Congress), his following among the Patidars is not likely to translate into anti-BJP votes, any longer,” a top party source told this newspaper.

The source said that the Congress high command is “miffed” with the Patidar leader, as the party had not expected him to make his solidarity to it obvious, thus fuelling speculation that he might have been acting on the Congress’ directive all through. The source contended that such speculation on Hardik’s motives, if not handled carefully, might make the Patidars vote en masse for the BJP.

“Hardik might end up benefiting the BJP. Following his overt camaraderie with the Congress, an impression has gone down that he may have had a pact with Rahul