New Delhi: Patidar leader Hardik Patel was appointed the new working president of the Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee on Saturday. Patel, 26, rose to prominence when he led an agitation in 2015 demanding that the Patidar community be given benefits of the quota for backward castes. Hardik Patel''s outfit Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti, which was at the forefront of the agitation for reservation benefit in government jobs and college admissions, had declared its support to the Congress party in the local body elections in 2015 and Gujarat assembly polls in 2017, giving a tough competition to the BJP.
He joined the Congress on March 12, 2019, but did not contest the Lok Sabha election that year due to his conviction in a case. Ahead of his joining, he had expressed his desire to contest from the Jamnagar Lok Sabha seat. "Congress president has approved the proposal of the appointment of Hardik Patel as the working president of Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee with immediate effect," an official communication from the party said. Amit Chavda is the president of the state unit. In-charge of Gujarat Congress Rajeev Satav said the state Congress committee had been dissolved some time ago and new office bearers will be appointed soon.
Meanwhile, the Congress president also approved the appointment of three district Congress Committee presidents - Mahendrasinh H Parmar for Anand, Anand Chaudhary for Surat and Yasin Gajjan for Dwaraka.
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