Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, on Saturday, said that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) always wished Hardik Patel contested the Lok Sabha polls. Rupani further said that Hardik Patel is a separatist leader as he keeps creating divides between communities in Gujarat. The chief minister was talking to media persons prior to Amit Shah's roadshow in Ahmedabad. He said, "The BJP always wished that Hardik Patel contests Lok Sabha polls. We are sure that he will have to bit the dust in the poll battle. He is a separatist who tries to create divides between communities in Gujarat, but now he has been exposed." Reacting to Hardik's comment that came day before the Gujarat High Court order rejecting his plea to stay the lower court's order to convict him, Rupani said that the Patidar quota agitation leader had accused the BJP of trying to stop him from contesting the polls. The chief minister has earlier referred to Hardik as an agent of Congress after he joined the party in party president Rahul Gandhi's presence in February. Hardik Patel also countered Rupani's statement and said that the BJP always has issues youth separatist leaders, who fight for their rights. He said, "It has become a crime to speak against the BJP and therefore, the Gujarat chief minister is calling youth like us separatists. He should feel ashamed as his party joined hands with the PDP, which is a party supporting separatists, just to form a government in J&K." "We youth raise our voice for the rights of the common people. We never savour Biryani with separatists. Those who do so are misleading the nation. BJP should bring their duality to an end; they impose sedition charges on the youth who struggle for the rights of the masses and withdraw a legal case against those who pelted stones at our Army," Hardik further added. During the conversation with media persons, Rupani also cleared the air on his deputy Nitin Patel's candidature from Mehsana for the Lok Sabha polls. He said Patel would not contest polls as it was never under the party's consideration, but some rumours kept on doing the rounds. Election Battle

Stay updated with all the Ahmedabad Latest News headlines here. For more exclusive & live news updates from all around India, stay connected with NYOOOZ.