Sonia Gandhi’s Most-Trusted Aide Ahmed Patel May Find It Hard To Win RS Election From Gujarat

Ahmed Patel, the political secretary and close aide to Congress party president Sonia Gandhi, who has filed his nomination on Wednesday to renew his Rajya Sabha term for the fifth time, may find it difficult to win the election.

Normally, his re-election to the Upper House would not have been difficult, but the exit of Shankarsinh Vaghela from Congress and eight party MLAs cross-voting in the recent presidential election has heightened the suspense.

Although Vaghela has confirmed his support for Patel’s bid in line with an earlier promise, he has made it conditional. Vaghela wants Ashok Gehlot, the Congress leader in charge of Gujarat, to withdraw his comments on his exit from the party.

Talking to the media yesterday, Gehlot had accused Vaghela of quitting the Congress for fear that the Bharatiya Janata Party would use central investigation agencies to pursue an old corruption case against him.

Following this, Vaghela threatened to resign as an MLA before the Rajya Sabha elections. "I don't fear ED or CBI, they can raid me 10 times but will not find anything. If Gehlot will not apologise, I will resign as the MLA before the Rajya Sabha elections and avoid voting for Ahmedbhai," Vaghela said.

The Congress, which has 57 MLAs in the 182-seat Gujarat Assembly, needs a minimum of 45 votes to retain the seat and facilitate Patel’s election to Rajya Sabha. If the eight members, who cross-voted in the presidential election, do not vote for Patel, his bid to get a fifth term could end in a failure. Vaghela may have kept more “sleeper cells” among Congress legislators.

With Nitish Kumar forming a new government in Bihar with BJP’s support, the party is unlikely to get support from Janata Dal (United) - which has one MLA in Gujarat assembly. However, the main opposition party has been promised support of two MLAs of the Nationalist Congress Party.