Congress on a pre-poll high

The BJP8217;s own allies 8212; Samata, Mamata and Jayalalitha 8212; would create trouble for the government and find some excuse to break the alliance, he claimed, adding that the 8220;future of Atal Behari Vajpayee is bleak8221;.

Blaming the BJP government for spiralling prices and the 8220;onion crisis8221;, Patel said the BJP had been thoroughly exposed. 8220;The government has failed on all fronts as it does not know how to run the government and manage the country8217;s affairs. It lacks vision and political skills. The direction-less BJP government has ruined the country8221;, he said.

Terming the government8217;s decision to allow export of onion in May-June and then import the same stock 8220;as lack on foresight,8221; he said the government had neither been able to implement the Ninth Five Year Plan nor reconstitute the Planning Commission.

Pointing out that the BJP had always accused the centre of neglect towards Gujarat by not releasing funds for the Narmada project, he said now though the party was in power both in the state and the centre, it had not advanced adequate financial assistance to cyclone-hit people of Kandla and flood-ravaged Surat.

Patel claimed that the Congress would win the Bharuch by-election this time because though the BJP has been in power since 1989, no developmental work had been carried out in the nine years. 8220;The area has been neglected,8221; he alleged, regretting that there was no representation in the government from Bharuch district.

The fact that all ministers of the Keshubhai government are campaigning in Bharuch, shows how anxious the party is, he said, questioning, if the BJP was so sure of victory, why had the entire Sachivalaya shifted to Bharuch.

With Mangrol MLA Raman Chaudhary joining the Congress, party candidate Iqbal Kakuji would get sizeable tribal votes, Patel claimed. According to him, the fight in the tribal areas was between the Congress and Janata Dal candidate Chhotu Vasava, while in the cities 8212; Bharuch and Ankleshwar 8212; the Congress and the BJP had to fight it out.

Accusing the BJP leaders of creating trouble, he alleged that they wanted to disturb the communal harmony and peace to polarise the electorate of Bharuch on communal lines. 8220;But they will not succeed in vitiating the atmosphere in Bharuch which symbolises communal harmony. Otherwise, I would have not been elected from Bharuch as I belong to a minority community,8221; he pointed out.

On police cases registered against the Congress candidate, Patel alleged that the BJP government had 8220;wrongly implicated Kakuji.8221; But it will have no adverse impact on voters as people know that the Congress candidate is innocent, he claimed.