His victory came against the grain, with the Congress party having been defeated by the Janata Party after Indira Gandhi’s Emergency. Today, 40 years on, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, which has its roots in the Bharatiya Jan Sangh that was part of the Janata Party in 1977, is the country’s largest party. As many as six MLAs have quit the Gujarat Congress in the last few days and joined the BJP. From Sonia Gandhi’s gatekeeper to the Congress party’s master strategist, Patel has had several titles bestowed on him over the years. On 2 August, he tweeted that the BJP was on an “unprecedented witch hunt” to win a Rajya Sabha seat.

Source: Mint August 06, 2017 18:33 UTC