Will officially join Congress today: Hardik Patel

Hardik Patel announced on Tuesday that he will be 'officially' joining Congress party after the Congress Working Committee meeting.

"I will officially join Congress today in the rally where senior leaders of the Congress will be present," Hardik said while talking to reporters here. "We will strengthen the ideology of Congress party and take it to the villages," he added.

Hardik recalled how Mahatma Gandhi started his Dandi March on March 12.

"Mahatma Gandhi started Dandi March this day and said he (Mahatma Gandhi) will overthrow the British. I am joining the same Congress party which, in the past, has been led by Subhash Chandra Bose, Pandit Nehru, Sardar Patel, Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, the people who worked to strengthen our country," he said.

Asked from which seat he will be contesting the elections, Patel said," It is up to the party to decide."

Patel emerged as the leader of the agitation demanding reservation for the Patidar community in Gujarat in 2015. The people from this community were considered to be bedrock supporters of the BJP.