BJP’s Response to Congress’ Departure from Ahmed Patel’s Legacy: ‘Revenge of the Prince’

Quintessentially working in the backrooms, Ahmed Patel would be called in in times of crisis

The Congress’s decision to hand over Gujarat’s Bharuch constituency, a stronghold of the late veteran leader Ahmed Patel, to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) as part of a seat-sharing agreement for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections has sparked accusations of vendetta within the BJP. BJP spokesperson Jaiveer Shergill, who defected from the Congress over a year ago, labeled it as the “revenge of the Prince.”

In a scathing critique, BJP’s Amit Malviya accused Rahul Gandhi and the Congress of attempting to erase Ahmed Patel’s legacy by giving away Bharuch, asserting that the Gandhi family believes in “use and throw.” Sharing Ahmed Patel’s daughter’s post on social media, Malviya emphasized the apparent differences between Patel and Rahul Gandhi.

Addressing the party cadre of Bharuch district, Ahmed Patel’s daughter, Mumtaz Patel, expressed regret for not being able to retain the constituency, where her father began his political journey in 1976. She vowed to regroup and strengthen the Congress, affirming her commitment to preserving her father’s legacy.

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Ahmed Patel, known as the Congress’s chief troubleshooter, represented Gujarat in both the state assembly and Parliament. His astute political maneuvers earned him a reputation for effectively resolving crises within the party until his demise in 2020 due to COVID-19.

Seat-sharing agreements have posed challenges for the opposition bloc, which aims to mount a formidable challenge against the BJP in the upcoming elections. The Congress and AAP recently reached a 4:3 seat-sharing formula for Delhi and extended their collaboration to Gujarat, Haryana, Goa, and Chandigarh.

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In Uttar Pradesh, the Congress has forged an alliance with Akhilesh Yadav’s Samajwadi Party, agreeing to contest 17 seats. However, deadlock persists in Maharashtra and West Bengal, where negotiations between various opposition parties are ongoing.

The INDIA bloc, formed last year to counter the BJP, suffered setbacks with the exit of key members such as Nitish Kumar’s JD(U) and Jayant Chaudhary’s Rashtra Lok Dal, both of which aligned with the BJP ahead of the polls.

Naiteek Bhatt