Samajwadi Party MP from Pratapgarh, Shiv Pal Singh Patel, has targeted the INDIA bloc ally, Congress, claiming that Rahul Gandhi contested from Raebareli instead of Amethi in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections because he was “so scared”.
Earlier reporting noted: 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 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. “That is precisely how they managed to win those six seats. We are far ahead of Congress in every respect. Speaking to news agency ANI, Gautam emphasised that any seat-sharing arrangement must reflect a respectable share, as they are equal partners in the alliance. 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.
Because of that persuasion,” Patel said, gandhi only managed to win it. We secured 37 seats. They shouldn’t ask for more than 50, and should feel happy. He said Congress has candidates available to contest all 403 Assembly seats in the State. The party would not contest fewer than 150 seats under the alliance arrangement, the state in charge emphasised. Earlier reporting noted: 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.
The MP said that it was SP chief Akhilesh Yadav who persuaded the now-leader of the opposition in Lok Sabha to contest the election. Otherwise, he was extremely reluctant to run for that traditional seat, the one said to belong to the Nehru family. Shiv Pal Singh Patel said the Samajwadi Party gave full support to the Congress, claiming that all SP votes on the seats allotted to the Congress went to the grand old party. The Congress should cooperate, rather than making all sorts of absurd or negative remarks,” he said. Earlier reporting noted: 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.
This comes as SP and Congress are locked in discussion over a seat-sharing formula for the upcoming Uttar Pradesh assembly elections, due early next year. Patel also claimed that without an alliance with SP, the Congress would not have won a single seat in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
