'Ignored' by Congress, Ahmed Patel's son upset with party's top brass

Faisal Patel, son of late Congress leader Ahmed Patel, is "upset" for being ignored by the party's top brass and has said that he is tired of waiting and keeping his options open.

"Tired of waiting around. No encouragement from the top brass. Keeping my options open," Faisal said in tweet on Tuesday. However, when IANS contacted Faisal, he said he did not want to comment any further and "options open" could mean anything.

Sources close to him say that he is waiting for a call from the top brass to work for the party in the state or at national level but since the demise of his father he is not being given any formal work in the party. Even he has not joined the party officially.

Earlier on March 27, Faisal had announced that he will be touring the seven Assembly seats of Bharuch & Narmada districts from April 1, adding that his team will assess the current reality of the political situation.

However, responding to a query about when he will join the party, Faisal had told IANS that he is not joining politics at the moment and is not sure about joining the party yet.

He had further suggested that if he joins the politics, he "may not enter into electoral politics but work for the party".

Gujarat would go to polls by the end of the year and Congress is busy in preparing for the Assembly elections.

Rahul Gandhi has taken several meetings to "galvanise" the state unit and the party has appointed Raghu Sharma along with four Secretaries to strengthen the party's preparations in the state.

Ahmed Patel was considered as one of the "most powerful" aides of Sonia Gandhi.

--IANS

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