Samajwadi Party MP from Pratapgarh Shiv Pal Singh Patel on Saturday claimed that without an alliance with his party, the Congress would not have won a single seat in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Samajwadi Party MP claimed that Rahul Gandhi was “ready to give up” his seat at one point, and he contested from the Raebareli seat only after a “reassurance” from Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav.
Speaking to PTI Videos, Patel said, “Had there been no alliance (with the Samajwadi Party), they (Congress) wouldn’t have won a single seat. It even reached a point where their top leader Rahul Gandhi was ready to give up his seat. He contested from elsewhere (Raebareli) instead of Amethi. He was so scared. “It was our national president who reassured and persuaded him, asking him to contest and warning that if he didn’t, he (Akhilesh) would field his own candidate. Only then did Gandhi agree to contest. “Every single vote from the Samajwadi Party went to the Congress wherever they were allotted seats. Look, Dalits were with Mayawati, but they have now shifted to our side. They realised that there was no significant upliftment of Dalits during the Congress regime, and certainly none is happening under the BJP. Whereas, during the Samajwadi Party’s tenure, everyone gets equal opportunities. Everyone gets an equal chance to progress; their children get a chance to receive an education. In fact, a much elder brother. So, they should keep that reality in mind.”
Because of that persuasion,” he said, gandhi only managed to win it.
He also claimed that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was “ready to give up” his seat at one point, and he contested from the Raebareli seat only after a “reassurance” from Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav. Otherwise, he was extremely reluctant to run for that traditional seat, the one said to belong to the Nehru family. Patel said the Samajwadi Party gave all support to the Congress. That is precisely how they managed to win those six seats,” he said. When asked to comment on a caste-based equation worked out by the Congress in appointing a Brahmin as its state unit president and a Muslim as working president, Patel said, “This will not yield any benefit. Asked if the “sister” (Uttar Pradesh Congress president Aradhana Misra) demands a larger share of seats, what will the “brother” (Akhilesh Yadav) do, Patel said, “In Uttar Pradesh, we are the elder brother.
