How Can Hardik Patel & Sunil Jakhar's Exit Impact Congress?

How can Hardik Patel and Sunil Jakhar’s exit impact the Congress?

On Wednesday, 18 May, Hardik Patel who gained popularity during the Patidar agitation, quit the party.

Taking swipes at senior leaders, he accused the party of lacking strong leadership both at the state and central levels. He said that Congress only plays the role of a “roadblock” when it comes to serious issues, be it about Ram Mandir, abrogation of Article 370 or GST.

While it’s not yet clear where Patel will be headed next, resignations within the Congress party have been on the rise. There have been brazen expressions of discontentment over the party leadership and the party's functioning from Congress leaders themselves.

Besides Hardik, many prominent and senior leaders – some of whom had decades-long association with the Congress – quit the party and switched over to opposition parties over the last few year.

In fact, earlier in the day a former senior leader of Congress from Punjab, Sunil Jakhar, joined the Bharatiya Janata Party, merely days after quitting the Congress.

But what doesn't make for good optics is that Patel's resignation comes just days after the Congress wrapped up their three-day 'Chintan Shivir' in Udaipur, where the party got together to chart out a plan for its revival. Jakhar, in fact, resigned while the Shivir was still underway.

So, we’ll look at two things in this episode: firstly, how does Hardik Patel and Sunil Jakhar’s exit stand to impact the Congress at a time when it is fast losing its grip over its voters?

Secondly, what are the big takeaways from the Chintan Shivir? Is the Congress acknowledging the shortcomings that has been costing it so dearly?

Our guest in today's episode is Aditya Menon, The Quint's political editor. Tune in!