Sonal Patel, Congress' pick in Gandhinagar, says not hesitant to fight Lok Sabha poll against Amit Shah
Congress has fielded against Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Gujarat's Gandhinagar Lok Sabha constituency, said she was not at all hesitant to fight the upcoming election against the senior BJP leader.
The 62-year-old leader, who is All India Congress Committee (AICC) secretary and the party co-incharge of Mumbai and western Maharashtra, claimed that anti-incumbency prevails as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has failed to fulfil the aspirations of people.
She also accused the ruling party of intimidating Congress workers in her constituency and sought a «level-playing field» in fighting elections. In an interview to PTI, Patel said, «I had not asked for a ticket from the party as I was busy with Congress's affairs in Maharashtra, where I am co-incharge of Mumbai and Western Maharashtra. But the party fielded me from Gandhinagar and I accepted it.»
«Our workers are being intimidated, nobody is ready to rent a space to us for organising meetings of party workers fearing that they will be targeted once the elections are over. Police are calling our city and district leaders to police stations in some frivolous cases from the past. BJP is using administrative machinery to fight elections,» she alleged.
This shows that they are scared and not on a firm footing, Patel said, adding, «I don't know if Amit Shah is aware of these tactics that BJP's local leaders are employing. Everybody should get a level-playing field to fight elections.»
An architect by profession, Patel said she was not hesitant in taking on Shah
