Mumtaz Patel, the daughter of late veteran Congress leader Ahmed Patel tendered her apology to the district cadre after the Bharuch parliamentary constituency was offered to the Aam Adami Party as part of the seat-share pact in Gujarat.
Soon after Congress leader Mukul Wasnik, in a joint press conference with the AAP in Delhi, announced that the AAP will contest the Lok Sabha election from the stronghold of Ahmed Pate, she said that she will continue to work to make the party stronger along with the party cadre in Bharuch.
"Deeply apologize 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 INC stronger. We won't let Ahmed Patel's 45 years of Legacy go in vain," she said, in a post on X.
Mumtaz had earlier expressed her interest in contesting the Lok Sabha election from the stronghold of father Ahmed Patel.
Mumtaz's brother Faisal had also declared that he would win the Bharuch seat after reports emerged that former Congress President Rahul Gandhi had said that he was not in favour of the Congress giving the AAP the Bharuch seat but left the decision to the party leadership.
"Honorable Shri Rahul Gandhi Ji, you listened to me and the Bharuch Congress workers. By supporting us, I and my fellow Bharuch Congress workers have been honored. I promise you that I will live up to your faith by winning the Bharuch Lok Sabha" Faisal Patel had posted on X on Friday.
Faisal Patel had earlier said that neither he nor the Congress cadre in Bharuch would support the decision to let the AAP contest the seat.
Ahmed Patel had won the Bharuch seat in 1977, 1980 and 1984 but since 1989 the BJP has dominated the seat winning it multiple times. Incumbent MP Mansukhbhai Vasava has held the seat since 1998.
According to the seat-sharing agreement the Congress will contest 24 seats in Gujarat, while the remaining two --Bharuch and Bhavyanagar are in the AAP's kitty.
AAP MLA and tribal leader Chaitar Vasava will contest the 2024 Lok Sabha election from the Bharuch seat.
The AAP and the Congress on Saturday announced their seat-sharing arrangements for Delhi, Gujarat, Goa and Haryana.
According to the arrengement, the AAP will contest four Lok Sabha seats in Delhi and the Congress three.
In Haryana, the AAP will contest the Lok Sabha polls from Kurukshetra. The Congress will contest both the Lok Sabha seats in Goa.
The Congress will also contest the lone seat in Chandigarh.
However, the AAP and the Congress have decided to contest Lok Sabha polls separately in Punjab.