The American angle

It8217;s not easy to spot Chandu Keshavlal Patel8217;s name and picture on his campaign vehicle. The black Scorpio is covered with hoardings of Sonia Gandhi...

It8217;s not easy to spot Chandu Keshavlal Patel8217;s name and picture on his campaign vehicle. The black Scorpio is covered with hoardings of Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, the Congress symbol and the party8217;s 8216;Chak De Gujarat8217; slogans. You can8217;t be blamed for missing the discreet banner8212;with his name and picture8212;tied horizontally across the hood.

But Patel8217;s supporters more than make up for that banner. At every political meeting and rally, they hand out booklets titled Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustanti. The booklets hammer home the point8212;printed all over in bold is 8216;C.K. Patel USA8217;, both in Hindi and Gujarati.

Patel, the Congress candidate from Himmatnagar in north Gujarat8217;s Sabarkantha district, is the richest candidate in the fray with assets of Rs 221 crore. His 34 million commercial property in the US includes the Hilton Hotel Resort at Dana Point and community halls for Gujaratis in California. He is also the president-elect of the National Federation of Indian-American Associations, a body that sponsored Sunita Williams8217;s recent visit to the country. But Patel knows his American connections alone won8217;t see him through and is thus banking on his party8217;s emblem and its First Family.

Narendra Modi didn8217;t miss taking a jab at Patel8217;s US links. At a rally in Himmatnagar on Wednesday, Modi reportedly said the Congressman would take the first flight to the US on December 24, after the results are declared. Patel, though, appeared confident about his chances. 8220;I will win by a margin of at least 21,000 votes.8221; An ambitious target that drew smirks from people who turned up to hear him.

Everywhere he goes, Patel attracts a hoard of hangers-on, some convincing him that victory is just a step away. One such person saluted him and said, 8220;I will shave off my moustache if you lose. I have no doubt about your victory.8221;

Patel addresses about eight meetings in his constituency everyday. He wants votes in the name of the Congress, Sonia Gandhi and the present government8217;s misdeeds. 8220;He may be a rich man but how many of us have seen him before? Maybe the rich Patels here know him but will that get him votes from close to 150 villages in the constituency,8221; asked a villager.

The BJP, which has fielded Praful Patel, hasn8217;t lost this seat since 1995. Patels and Thakores account for around 90,000 of the two lakh voters in the constituency and that8217;s the votebank the party is eyeing.

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8220;He has a lot of money and people are jumping on to the gravy train just for that,8221; said a BJP worker.

HIS ASSETS

Indian and American properties

8226; Moveable assets: Rs 27,84,19,770

8226; Immovable Assets: Rs 1,93,39,55,000

8226; Total assets: Rs 2,212,374,770

8226; Gold: 30 tolas wife: 50 tolas

8226; Cars: Mercedes Benz in the US, Mahindra Scorpio and Honda City in India

8226; Value of US assets: Rs 163 crore