Congress leader Ahmed Patel snatched a late night victory in the Gujarat Rajya Sabha elections after the Election Commission rejected the votes of two Congress rebel legislators. Mr. Patel won by the skin of his teeth. He needed 44 votes to win and he got 44, returning to the Rajya Sabha from Gujarat for a fifth term in a bitterly fought election that became a massive prestige battle between the Congress and the BJP. The other two seats have been won easily by BJP chief Amit Shah, who makes his debut in Parliament, and union Minister Smriti Irani.
Read Ahmed patel is all set to win his RS seat
Ahmed Patel’s win was the best news the Congress has had in a long while and party workers engaged in frenzied celebration in Gandhinagar. Mr. Patel is political secretary to Congress president Sonia Gandhi and his win on Tuesday in a face-off with the BJP’s master strategist Amit Shah is a big shot in the arm of the opposition party ahead of assembly elections later this year in Gujarat, where it has steadily lost ground to the BJP.
Read Ahmed patel may cross the magical figure, but faces the toughest battle of his political career
Ahmed Patel has won the biggest political battle of his life and for the Congress. He has sprung hopes that there could be some chance for the already comatose Congress in Gujarat to revive.
Amit Shah has proved that he is completely focused on his job. He will not rest. Amit Shah will now focus on the target of 150+ seats in the upcoming Assembly polls. For this, Shah will not only work tirelessly, he also has decided to “welcome anyone in the BJP without being bothered about their past baggage”.
Though Shah is reported not to have a personal fondness for Shankersinh Vagela and his style of politics, his readiness to collaborate with Vaghela shows his political flexibility which is the call of the day.
After a high-voltage drama and a series of betrayals that rocked the Congress, Ahmed Patel defeated Balwantsinh Rajput of the BJP in the Rajya Sabha polls which have now been termed as the most interesting and controversial RS polls in India’s political history.
However all is not over for Amit Shah. He gambled and he gambled so well on Congress rebel Balwantsinh Rajput that he had the entire Congress running for cover. Amit Shah and Ahmed Patel will play a crucial role in the forthcoming assembly polls in Gujarat. With Balwantsinh having lost, Shankersinh Vaghela’s clout has definitely decreased. Vaghela had promised 22 defections from the Congress but managed to get 14. Six of the Congress MLAs resigned and eight cross voted.
Amit Shah is a man whose strategy, patience, networking and political acumen has grown manifold over the years. In fact today, Shah completes three years as the National BJP president. Ahmed Patel, despite public talk that he will now seek retirement, is likely to work for Congress revival in Gujarat. Amit Shah, Ahmed Patel and Shankersinh Vaghela will continue to remain active in respective fields; for now they are likely to cool heels for the next big battle — Gujarat Assembly polls.
For the Congress, wresting a win through Patel after facing multiple setbacks in the run-up to the poll, is the morale booster it has needed for a while. But while Shah and Irani registered easy wins, the fight boiled down to the third seat, which Patel was contesting.
Abdul Hafiz Lakhani is a senior journalist based in Gujarat. He is also Editor of Gujarat Siyasat.
I was conversing with a good friend of mine around this info and even regarding sports stories as well. I do believe you made a few great points in this article, we are excited to read more material from you.
I am definitely loving the design of your information site. Do you encounter any kind of internet browser compatibility situations? Some of the website visitors have lamented concerning my beach house plans site not operating effectively in Explorer yet seems amazing in Firefox. Are there any kind of recommendations to aid fix the situation?
Are you tired of your ac repair in Dubai? Are you looking for Certified Professionals to carry out your ac repair with improved facilities and in an expert way?. Hot and humid conditions are not easy to tolerate, especially when you are not used to them. But, thanks to the air conditioners – living in such extreme settings can also become a pleasant experience, and more so if you are in Dubai.
Good day, I am truly excited I found out this blog, I actually encountered you by mistake, while I was searching on Google for sofa cleaning at home. Anyways I am here right now and would just love to say thank you for a wonderful blog post and the all-round thrilling site (I also like the theme), I don’t have enough time to go through it all at the moment but I have book-marked it and even added your RSS feed, so whenever I have time I will be back to read much more. Please do keep up the fantastic work.
You’re certainly correct, I’d really like to find out even more on the topic! I am as well interested by microsoft excel courses since I believe it truly is very unique now. Keep up the good work!
Hello there, what do you think around how to use microsoft excel? Pretty interesting issue, huh?
Hey, you’re absolutely correct. I always go through your content attentively. I am also considering rich media distribution, maybe you might write about that sometimes. Cheers.
I am seriously enjoying the theme/design of your internet site. Do you ever run into any web browser interface issues? A lot of the website readers have lamented regarding my bitcoin converter website not working the right way in Explorer but appears wonderful in Safari. Have you got any advice to assist fix the issue?
Howdy, what do you really feel concerning home design? Extremely fascinating issue, isn’t it?