Congress will get more seats than BJP: Ahmed Patel

Taking time off to speak exclusively to The Indian Express, he says the Congress would get more seats than the BJP in Gujarat, notwithstanding BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi’s target of winning all Gujarat seats and leading the national campaign with the target of a “Congress-mukt Bharat”.

A day before he met this paper, Modi had launched a sharp but veiled attack on Patel, alleging that “a close aide of 10 Janpath” was involved in the hawala business. Patel hit back in the tribal town of Dediapada in Bharuch Lok Sabha constituency at a public rally, accompanied by film star and MP Raj Babbar.

This is not the first election that Patel has come in Modi’s crosshairs since he became the chief minister. The media-shy Patel, however, has this time come out strongly against Modi, the 2002 riots, the communal agenda and picked holes in his development model.

“Congress is not going to be cowered by such threats. If you (Modi) have courage, do whatever you want to, even hang me if you will, but remember, you are not going to come to power” he tells the crowd of tribals at Dediapada.

In the last week, Modi toured Bharuch, Valsad, Kamrej, Amreli, Junagadh, Kutch, Rajkot, Danta in Banaskantha and Ahmedabad. This time, however, the sedate Patel’s role has gone beyond that of a political mentor. At Dediapada, he lent an ear to villagers harassed by a local bootlegger.

Two policemen, who were alleged to have been in cahoots with the bootlegger, were transferred after Patel decided to participate in their agitation. Patel, a Rajya Sabha MP who represented Bharuch Lok Sabha constituency thrice till 1989, has the challenging job to first win back his home turf, which has been going to the BJP. According to Patel, Modi’s development model as a threat to farmers.

“He has made empty promises. As far as his communal agenda is concerned, it is all so clearly visible. This is his ultimate, his actual agenda,” he says. On the BJP’s claims of getting Muslim support, Patel says such discourses are aimed at portraying the “secular image” of the party even when the ground reality is much different.

Asked about the Muslim-dominated Salaya municipality in Jamnagar, which went to the BJP last year for the first time, Patel says, “People vote for the BJP because they have to get some work out of the BJP government. The BJP also benefited due to the infighting among Congress workers.”

When asked why the Congress decided to field a “Patel” candidate from Bharuch Lok Sabha seat this time and not a Muslim candidate, he says the idea is to offer a chance to a candidate from the majority community. “And this is not likely to affect the support of minorities in this region.”

Rejecting the BJP’s claims of forming the government as “hypothetical,” Patel exudes confidence of UPA III coming back to power. “They never succeeded in the past because people understand that their ultimate agenda is that of polarisation. They will not succeed this time round either,” he says. About his son Faizal joining politics, he says that he is not the right person to decide his future. “I have left it upon him to decide when he wants to join politics or whether he wants to join politics at all.”