Amiffed Niranjan Patel, the Congress MLA from Petlad, quit the party after not finding his name in the Congress list of 37 candidates released on Wednesday night for the Gujarat Assembly polls. The six-time MLA was dropped in favour of Dr Kalpesh Parmar.
Patel was the lone Patidar MLA of the Congress in Charotar. The party has fielded Patidar candidates in Nadiad and Matar in Kheda district while in the Anand district, it has given tickets to Patidar candidates in Khambhat and Umreth.
Patel’s resignation letter says he is quitting as the primary member of the Congress. Speaking to Vibes of India, a dejected Patel said he was “paying for his loyalty to the Congress”. “I have been an MLA for six terms with the Congress. I resided in Petlad for 40 years and in terms of eligibility and performance, I should have been an automatic choice. But the party’s decision is based on caste politics,” he said.
When asked if he will join any other party, Patel was non-committal. “I don’t know what will happen in the future,” he said.
