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Faisal Patel (2nd from L) with the family of former Union minister AK Antony (centre). (Photo: Twitter/Faisal Patel) There are murmurs of discontent within the Congress from Gujarat in the election year.
Faisal Patel, son of former political secretary to Sonia Gandhi late Ahmed Patel, expressed his displeasure with the Congress leadership through a tweet on Tuesday. “Tired of waiting around, No encouragement from the top brass. Keeping my options open,” Faisal wrote on Twitter.
The 41-year-old Harvard Business School alumnus told The Indian Express: “I have expressed my feelings and I don’t want to add anything more or anything less. What I have said I have said, and nothing more… It could be anything like leaving the party, leaving politics and joining the business. It could be anything.”
Tired of waiting around. No encouragement from the top brass. Keeping my options open
— Faisal Patel (@mfaisalpatel) April 5, 2022
This has come days after Patel shelved, apparently due to Ramzan, his plan to tour family’s turf, Bharuch Lok Sabha segment, from April 1. Assembly elections is Gujarat are due this year.
On Tuesday, Faisal also tweeted pictures with the family of former Union minister AK Antony whom he called a “father figure”. He also retweeted Anil K Antony’s post soon after, that referred to Faisal’s visit: “A forever part of our family, with a storied @INCIndia legacy, he’s surely going to remain so, and work on rebuilding Congress, and on the betterment of Gujarat and India.”
Always a pleasure and honor to meet Shri. A. K Antony ji and his family. He has been like a father figure since my late father, Mr. Ahmed Patel’s demise. Thank you always for the love, encouragement and support!🙏🇮🇳 @anilkantony pic.twitter.com/c6GNL3Z5XL
— Faisal Patel (@mfaisalpatel) April 5, 2022
Senior Congress leader of Bharuch Nazu Fadwala, who was a close aide of Ahmed Patel, said, “In the second week of March, we had a meeting with Faisal. He wanted to tour areas under the Bharuch Lok Sabha seat, comprising seven Assembly seats — Dediapada (Narmada district), Karjan (Baroda district) and Jambusar, Vagra, Bharuch, Ankleshwar and Jhagadia. We are shocked at Faisal’s tweet. We have spent our lives supporting Ahmed Patel and now his son. We are trying to contact Faisal but he is not picking up the phone.”
On rumours of Faisal’s joining the AAP in near future, Fadwala said, “I am sure that they are all rumours and being propogated to tarnish his image. He will not join AAP. He will never ever leave the party.”
Patel, who is based in Delhi, often visits the family’s ancestral Piraman village in Bharuch district. Even though he has not made his electoral debut yet, Faisal addressed public meetings in Bharuch district ahead of the 2012 state polls and also campaigned in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections in Gujarat.
The Patel family is part of the HMP Foundation named after Ahmed Patel’s mother. It runs a hospital and offer other people-friendly services in the area. Faisal lost his wife, who belonged to Kashmir, in 2016. The couple has a daughter.
A senior Congress leader from Gujarat on condition of anonymity said, “Faisal is not even a primary member of the Congress; so where is the question of quitting.”
On March 9, when AK Antony announced retirement from politics, Faisal took to Twitter to hail the move. “I must say it’s a good move considering current state of affairs of the Congress Party,” he wrote.
Reacting to Faisal’s tweet, Jayrajsinh Parmar former Congress leader who joined the BJP in February, said “Faisal’s move (in case he quits Congress) is of little consequence”.
- The Indian Express website has been rated GREEN for its credibility and trustworthiness by Newsguard, a global service that rates news sources for their journalistic standards.
