Gujarat Rajya Sabha poll: Don't mess with Ahmed Patel

As far as Ahmed Patel was concerned, Rajya Sabha poll was personal, so it had to be won

Rarely, if ever, has there been such a to-do (ado?) about one Rajya Sabha seat. The National Democratic Alliance was determined the Congress should not win it. The Congress was equally clear — ensuring Ahmed Patel’s victory was a prestige issue.
 
So what is it about this man?
 
Patel has been a Rajya Sabha member since 1993, and today, when youngsters question his claim to knowing mass politics and talk about the Sultanate that is the Congress, they are probably unaware that he was not just a member of the sixth but also the seventh and eighth Lok