Even as Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party announced a poll alliance for Delhi, Gujarat, Haryana and Chandigarh today, late Congress veteran Ahmed Patel’s son Faisal took to X to announce that neither he nor committed Congress workers would support the AAP-Congress alliance if Bharuch seat in Gujarat is allocated to AAP.
AAP and Congress already announced earlier in the day from Delhi that Bharuch and Bhavnagar Loksabha seats have been given to AAP as part of the poll alliance.
Faisal’s X comment has created a flutter in the already disintegrated Gujarat Congress. Late Ahmed Patel’s children Mumtaz and Faisal have been awaiting political debut from Bharuch in South Gujarat.
Read Faisal Patel’s tweet here:
Faisal Ahmed Patel tweeted that he nor committed Congress workers would support the alliance if Bharuch ticket was given to Aam Aadmi Party.
Mumtaz and Faisal Patel have been claiming the political legacy of their father Ahmed Patel, who died of COVID-related complications in 2020. Ironically, the late Ahmed Patel was known for his diplomacy and expertise in quelling intra-party rebellions and ensuring a smooth ride for Congress. As a close confidant of Mrs Sonia Gandhi, Late Ahmedbhai was also instrumental in bringing in several partners for UPA that led to Congress ruling in 2004 and 2009, and was considered as the one with the expertise to quell rebellions in the Congress during his stint as the political secretary to party president Sonia Gandhi.
Two months after Ahmed Patel’s death, Faisal Patel in January 2021 wrote on Twitter that he would not join active politics. He said, “Finally decided I will not be joining active politics.”
Mumtaz, late Ahmedbhai’s daughter has been very active in social and political circles running a successful #bharuchkibeti campaign. She has been actively demanding a ticket for Bharuch Loksabha.
“I will continue to work on my existing social initiatives in healthcare, education and technology. Late Ahmed Patel ji’s true legacy was working for the downtrodden and underprivileged. I pledge to continue doing so”, the son Faisal Patel has tweeted saying he was not interested in joining active politics.
But his April 2021 photograph with Arvind Kejriwal kicked off speculation. Faisal Patel tweeted the photograph saying he was “proud to finally meet our Delhi CM As a Delhi resident, I am an ardent admirer of his work ethics and leadership skills.”
Then, before the Gujarat Assembly elections in 2022, Ahead of assembly polls in Gujarat, Faisal tweeted that he was “keeping his options open” as there was no encouragement from top leadership and that he was “tired of waiting”.
“Tired of waiting around. No encouragement from the top brass. Keeping my options open,” Faisal Patel had written. His latest X post denouncing support to Congress has taken the Gujarat Congress by surprise. No Congress leader wanted to speak on record but three leaders including one from South Gujarat, said Ahmedbhai was not interested in either of his children entering active politics. This was the reason he ensured that they were not included in any political or public engagements. The leader claimed that the Gujarat Congress was keen to field either of his children from South Gujarat for the Assembly elections in 2017 but Ahmedbhai categorically refused to bring his children to the political arena.
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