Ahmedabad
Firebrand Patidar community leader Hardik Patel announced on Wednesday that he would contest the upcoming Lok Sabha election. Although Patel did not specify whether he would join any political party or contest as an Independent, sources in the Congress claimed that he is likely to join the party to fight the polls.

“Bilkul, hum 2019 mein chunav ladenge ,” Patel told reporters in Lucknow when asked if would take a plunge into electoral politics.Congress sources said negotiations were on with Patel about his joining the party to fight the elections. He might contest the elections from Mehsana or Amreli seat, which have a strong presence of the Patel community, party leaders said.

But Patel has been barred from entering Mehsana by a court in a case of violence during the 2015 Patidar agitation, party sources said. He had filed a plea in the Gujarat high court against the lower court order.

Congress leaders, however, did not rule out the possibility of the PAAS leader contesting the election as an Independent candidate with the party’s outside support.

Patel’s entry into electoral fray will have an impact in Gujarat, where the Bharatiya Janata Party has been winning assembly elections since 1995. In the 2014 general election, the BJP had won all the 26 Lok Sabha seats in the state.

“After the Centre granted 10 per cent quota for the economically weaker sections, it was our wish that Hardik should contest the Lok Sabha polls and take ahead the cause of our community,” PAAS leader Dharmik Malaviya said.