Those who deserted Cong were power hungry: Ahmed Patel

Congress leader Ahmed Patel today said the MLAs who recenlty left the party were "power hungry and not committed" to it.
Patel, who is Congress president Sonia Gandhi's political secretary, said the desertion would not affect the party's prospects in the upcoming state elections.
He was speaking on the sidelines of an event organised by the city Congress unit to felicitate him and the 43 MLAs who voted for him in the recently held Rajya Sabha polls.
The Congrees leader wore the trademark cap of the Patel quota agitation with the slogan "Jay Patidar, Jay Sardar" written on it. It was given to him during the function.

"Those who have left the party were not strongly rooted in our culture and were not committed to the Congress," Patel told reporters.
Fourteen Congress MLAs had resigned from the party just before the Rajya Sabha elections, bringing its strength in the state assembly to 43 from 57.

However, Patel managed to win the Rajya Sabha seat for the fifth time, pushing back an agressive BJP.
"We are not at all worried as these people were not committed to the Congress. Those who have gone are power hungry. It seems that the BJP had promised them ticket for the next assembly elections," he alleged.

He said the Congress would win the state assembly elections as the Rajya Sabha polls had boosted the confidence of its workers.