No Betrayal”: Ahmed Patel’s Daughter After AAP Gets Bharuch Lok Sabha Seat

New Delhi: 

Congress leader Mumtaz Patel confessed to “disappointment”, but dismissed talk of “betrayal”, after the Lok Sabha seat in Gujarat’s Bharuch – held by her father, Ahmed Patel, between 1977 and 1984 – was given to the Aam Aadmi Party as part of a pan-India accord before the general election.

Ms Patel told NDTV she understood the Congress faced certain compulsions in negotiating the seat-sharing deal with the AAP, which will also contest Gujarat’s Bhavnagar. The Congress will contest the other 24, as the two bid to stop the Bharatiya Janata Party from a third successive clean sweep.

“Of course, I’m not going to deny I was deeply disappointed and upset… but I was told alliance talks at a pan-India level would not progress without the Bharuch seat being first settled,” she told NDTV.

She also said the Congress’ three senior-most figures – former boss Sonia Gandhi, MP Rahul Gandhi, and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra – had all reached out to explain the position regarding the Bharuch seat.

“It is not about betrayal… disappointment, yes. But I understand and respect the compulsions… it must have been impossible. The Bharuch seat was in negotiation for two months. If it was so easy (to keep it for the Congress), it would have been sorted a month ago,” Ms Patel said Monday.