"Deeply apologize...": Mumtaz after Congress announces to give late father's stronghold Bharuch seat to AAP for LS Polls

New Delhi [India], February 24 : Mumtaz Patel, the daughter of late veteran Congress leader Ahmed Patel and one of the aspirants for Congress ticket for the Bharuch seat in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections tendered her apology to the district cadre after the parliamentary constituency was offered to the Aam Adami Party (AAP) as part of the seat-share pact in Gujarat.
Soon after Congress leader Mukul Wasnik, in a joint press conference with the AAP here in the national capital announced that the AAP will contest the Lok Sabha election from the stronghold of Ahmed Patel, the late father of Mumtaz, 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.
Earlier on Friday, Mumtaz Patel'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 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 1998.
According to the compromise reached by the AAP and the Congress, in Gujarat of the 26 parliamentary seats the Congress will contest 24 seats, while the remaining 2--Bharuch and Bhavyanagar are in the AAP's kitty.
The party's MLA and tribal leader Chaitar Vasava will contest the 2024 Lok Sabha election from the Bharuch seat.
Both parties have finalised their seat-sharing pact for the seven Lok Sabha seats in Delhi also after several rounds of deliberations having settled for a four-three seat-sharing formula, with AAP contesting four seats and Congress three.
"Delhi Lok Sabha has 7 seats. AAP will contest on 4 - New Delhi, West Delhi, South Delhi and East Delhi; Congress will contest on 3 - Chandni Chowk, North East and North West," said Congress general secretary and MP Mukul Wasnik.
The Congress leader said that in Haryana his party will contest on nine Lok Sabha seats, while AAP will contest on one seat.
"Haryana has 10 Lok Sabha seats. Congress will contest on 9. AAP will have its candidates on 1 seat - on Kurukshetra," he said.
"After a long discussion on Chandigarh, at the end, it was decided that Congress candidate will contest from there," Wasnik said.
Congress will contest on both the Lok Sabha seats in Goa and the lone Chandigarh seat.
However, the sealing of the deal - after a period of hectic negotiations, mixed signals and public display of disagreement is a big step for the Opposition as it prepares to take on the Narendra Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government.