AAP will also contest Gujarat's Bhavnagar Lok Sabha seat as part of the seat sharing agreement with Congress.
Saying she understands her party’s compulsions in giving Bharuch Lok Sabha seat to its INDIA-bloc ally AAP, Congress leader Mumtaz Patel has said she didn’t want the pan-India opposition alliance break because of her.
"Of course, I am 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," Mumtaz Patel was quoted by NDTV as saying.
Bharuch Lok Sabha seat in Gujarat has been held by late Congress stalwart and Mumtaz Patel’s father Ahmed Patel between 1977 and 1984. The seat has remained with the BJP since 1989. The children of late Congress heavyweight Ahmed Patel including Mumtaz Patel and her brother Faisal Patel had been aggressively staking claim on the seat.
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"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," she was quoted as saying.
AAP will also contest Gujarat's Bhavnagar Lok Sabha seat as part of the seat sharing agreement with Congress.
On Congress giving Bharuch seat and Bhavnagar seat to Congress, she said: “Giving these two to the AAP got the Congress seats in Assam, Goa, and Chandigarh. And AAP also backed off from other six seats it wanted in Gujarat.”
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She as per the report said due to the party’s decision AAP “backtracked from all in return for Bharuch”.
“After hearing all this, I did not want the alliance, at a pan-India level, to break because of me,” she was quoted as saying.
Earlier, Mumtaz Patel in her post on micro-blogging site-X had stated: "Deeply apologise to our district cadre for not being able to secure the Bharuch Lok Sabha seat in alliance. I share your disappointment. Together, we will regroup to make Congress stronger. We won't let Ahmed Patel's 45 years of legacy go in vain."
"I will 100 per cent say that I am planning to work hard and win the seat back, not just for my father, but also for the Congress," she was further quoted as saying.
