Guj Cong president frustrated as he cannot fight election: BJP

BJP's national spokesperson Sambit Patra today said that Gujarat Congress president Bharatsinh Solanki was "frustrated" as he can not contest the coming Assembly election in the state.

Hitting back at Solanki over his remark that BJP president Amit Shah was "furious" due to the BJP's bleak poll prospects, Patra said Solanki himself was a frustrated man.

"Bharatbhai Solanki said that Amitbhai is agitated... He is frustrated. Is it our fault that the (Congress) party is not giving him ticket and he is not able to contest election?" Patra said, speaking to media here.

"(Solanki) should ask Rahul Gandhi why he is not able to contest. He should ask if there is no seat for him to contest...or if the party is not willing to give him ticket. It clearly shows Bharatbhai's frustration," he said.
 

Gujarat will not allow Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi to impose "Amethi model", which is bereft of development, on the state, he said.

During the UPA rule, the Congress delayed grant of permission to the Narmada project, did not allow installation of gates of Narmada Dam, did not give special grants for the Kutch desert and Gandhinagar and refused crude oil and gas royalty grant to the state, the BJP spokesperson alleged.

"(Congress) talks about division, while we talk about development," he said.

Patra also mocked the Congress over supporters of Hardik Patel-led Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti ransacking its offices over ticket distribution disputes.

"I have learnt that the Congress has got its Gujarat headquarters insured for Rs 3-4 crore. I will tell you an inside story. The Congress high command wants to get the entire Congress insured. But no insurance company is ready to get Congress insured, because they know its political future," Patra said.

Earlier in the day, reacting to Amit Shah's statement that the Gujarat election is a fight between casteism and dynastic rule on one side and developmental politics of prime minister Modi on the other, Solnaki said Shah was "furious" as he knew that his party was going to lose.