Days after Congress leaders Faisel Patel and Mumtaz Patel expressed disappointment for losing Bharuch seat to AAP under the party’s seat sharing aggreement for Lok Sabha polls, Bhartiya Janata Party is claiming the move to be ‘Rahul Gandhi’s attempt to erase the legacy’ of late Ahmed Patel whose family continues to enjoy significant influence in Bharuch.
“Handing over long standing stronghold of Sh Ahmed Patel, who gave his life to Congress Party, to AAP is the revenge of the “Prince”,” wrote BJP spokesperson Jaiveer Shergill on social media platform X, formerly Twitter.
Earlier, Ahmed Patel’s daughter and Congress leader Mumtaz Patel expressed her unhappiness on Congress’ decision to give away Bharuch seat to Aam Aadmi Party under the seat-sharing formula for Gujarat for upcoming Lok Sabha elections 2024.
“Deeply apologize to Our district cadre for not being able to secure the Bharuch Lok Sabha seat in alliance. I share your disappointment. Together, we will regroup to make Congress stronger. We won’t let Ahmed Patel’s 45 years of legacy go in vain,” Ms Patel wrote with the hashtag “Bharuch ki beti (daughter of Bharuch)”, wrote Mumtaz Patel on X.
Resharing Patel’s post on X, Bhartiya Janata Party leader Amit Malviya lashed out at the grand old party where he claimed that a ‘single dynasty is more equal than the others’ giving a direct reference of the Gandhis. He also accused Rahul Gandhi of trying to erase the legacy of Ahmed Patel from Bharuch.
“In the Congress, one dynasty is more equal than the others. Everyone knows of the differences between late Ahmed Patel and Rahul Gandhi. Giving away Bharuch to AAP is Rahul Gandhi’s attempt to erase his legacy and humiliate the family. Gandhis believe in use and throw,” wrote Amit Malviya on X.
A day ago, Faisal Ahmed Patel, the son of late Congress leader Ahmed Patel criticised the decision of the party’s high command and said that he would bring the matter up with the senior Congress leader.
“…My party workers and I are not happy and we wanted this decision to not be taken but if the high command wants, we will follow it – both party workers and I…” news agency ANI quoted Patel.
Under the Congress-AAP seat sharing formula, the party is set to contest elections for 24 seats in Gujarat, whereas, AAP will compete for 2 seats. In Haryana, the party would run elections in 9 seats, and Arvind Kejriwal’s party would fight for one seat. In Delhi, AAP will fight elections on 4 seats, whereas Congress would fight on 3 seats.
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Published: 25 Feb 2024, 06:36 PM IST