On Saturday (24th February), Congress and AAP announced seat-sharing for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. Out of the 26 Lok Sabha seats in Gujarat, the Congress party has given Bharuch and Bhavnagar seats to its partner in the I.N.D.I. alliance, Aam Aadmi Party. Congress party will field its candidates on the remaining 24 seats. After this announcement, family members of the Late Congress leader Ahmed Patel have expressed their disappointment over this decision. Ahmed Patel’s daughter Mumtaz Patel and his son Faisal Ahmed Patel took to social media to express their disappointment.
Earlier, Congress leader Mukul Wasnik announced in a press conference that the party will share seats with AAP in Gujarat for the Lok Sabha elections. He said, “Gujarat has 26 Lok Sabha seats. Congress will contest on 24. AAP will have its candidates on 2 seats – Bharuch and Bhavnagar.”
Delhi | Congress and AAP announce seat-sharing for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections 2024.
— ANI (@ANI) February 24, 2024
Congress general secretary and MP Mukul Wasnik says, "Gujarat has 26 Lok Sabha seats. Congress will contest on 24. AAP will have its candidates on 2 seats – Bharuch and Bhavnagar." pic.twitter.com/PVTS2LcCpR
AAP has already announced its candidate for this seat. Aam Aadmi Party convener Arvind Kejriwal has declared MLA Chaitar Vasava as the candidate from Bharuch. After the seat sharing between the parties was announced, Mumtaz Patel tweeted, “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 INC stronger. We won’t let Ahmed Patel’s 45 years of Legacy go in vain.” She also used a hashtag of ‘Bharuch Ki Beti’ which means ‘the daughter of Bharuch’.
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 @INCIndia stronger .We won’t let @ahmedpatel 45 years of Legacy go in vain. #bharuchkibeti
— Mumtaz Patel (@mumtazpatels) February 24, 2024
It was speculated well before the seat-sharing announcement that the Bharuch seat may go to AAP. The family members of Ahmed Patel were expressing their displeasure with the impending decision before this announcement as well. On 23rd February, Mumtaz Patel said, “The talks are still on and the final decision is yet to be made. We had hopes that this seat would remain with Congress but when this information came, people felt demoralised and sad. We have heard that Rahul Gandhi has also objected to the Bharuch seat being given to AAP. We are hopeful that this seat will remain with Congress. Traditionally, this is a Congress seat. They want an alliance because they want the support of Congress.”
#WATCH | On reports of Congress to give Gujarat's Bharuch seat to AAP, Congress leader Mumtaz Patel, daughter of veteran party leader late Ahmed Patel says, "The talks are still on and the final decision is yet to be made. We had hopes that this seat would remain with Congress… pic.twitter.com/DIL4Azk9Q8
— ANI (@ANI) February 23, 2024
Ahmed Patel’s son Faisal Ahmed Patel tweeted on 22nd February, “If the Bharuch Lok Sabha seat is allotted to the AAP party under the alliance in the next Lok Sabha elections, neither I nor the conscientious workers of the Congress party will support the candidate of the AAP party.”
આગામી લોકસભા ચૂંટણીમાં ગઠબંધન હેઠળ ભરૂચ લોકસભા સીટ આપ પાર્ટીને ફાળવવામાં આવશે તો હું કે કોંગ્રેસ પાર્ટીના સંનિષ્ઠ કાર્યકરો આપ પાર્ટીના ઉમેદવારનું સમર્થન નહીં કરીએ. @INCIndia @INCGujarat
— Faisal Ahmed Patel (@mfaisalpatel) February 22, 2024
He said in a media interaction, “Congress is a democratic party and I.N.D.I. alliance is very important for our country. If Congress gets the candidature, then only it will benefit Congress and the I.N.D.I. alliance. It will be much easier for Congress to win the Bharuch district, AAP’s strength is only on one Assembly seat. We believe that Congress should get the Bharuch district. I won’t support this alliance.”
#WATCH | Gujarat: Faisal Ahmed Patel, Congress leader and son of Senior Congress leader late Ahmed Patel, says, " Congress is a democratic party and INDIA alliance is very important for our country. If Congress gets the candidature then only it will benefit Congress and INDIA… pic.twitter.com/N75luUEKnI
— ANI (@ANI) February 22, 2024
On 23rd February, Faisal said in a conversation with ABP News, “I am a contender for the Bharuch seat. Aam Aadmi Party’s candidate cannot win from here. I have worked hard here continuously. I have also spoken to the party high command about this seat. My sister Mumtaz also wants me to contest the Lok Sabha elections from here. She told me about it on 10th January. She will work in the organisation and I will contest the Lok Sabha elections.”
Ahmed Patel was a senior Congress leader from Gujarat, and Bharuch was his stronghold. He was a long-term Gandhi family loyalist. He died on 25th November 2020 due to coronavirus infection.
