Patel's RS win has rejuvenated party: Goa Congress chief

The election of Congress President Sonia Gandhi's aide Ahmed Patel to the Rajya Sabha from Gujarat, amid late-night drama on Tuesday, has rejuvenated the party, state Congress President Shantaram Naik said on Wednesday.

"Victory of Ahmed Patel is historic," Naik told reporters at the Congress state headquarters in Panaji.

"They had to face atrocities and gimmicks of the BJP for last several days. Inspite of that, at midnight the results were declared and Patel got elected. We are very happy. He has rejuvenated the Congress party with his election victory."

Naik also said that the Bharatiya Janata Party has no right to stake claim to India's freedom movement as the party ideologues in the pre-Independence era colluded with the British.

"Predecessors of the BJP, which consists of RSS and other forces, wanted Britishers to stay. They colluded with Britishers to deny freedom of India and today they are boasting of freedom and other things. They have practically no right to speak of the freedom movement," he said.

Naik also accused the BJP-led coalition government at the Centre, as well as in states, of trying to erase top Congress leaders from history books.

"They want to remove names of Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru and all other Congress leaders like Indira Gandhi etc. from history books... They want to rewrite history books," Naik said.

--IANS

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