(PTI) Aug. 9: The Gujarat Rajya Sabha elections have once again highlighted the importance of being Ahmed Patel. The political secretary to party chief Sonia Gandhi was not keen on an unprecedented fifth term in the upper House of Parliament, sources say. His defeat in the Rajya Sabha polls would have demoralised the entire Congress and hastened Sonia's exit as party chief. In private, some in that league say that given a choice, they would tilt towards Patel rather than Shah. Cong expulsions The Congress has expelled for six years eight of its MLAs who voted against Ahmed Patel yesterday.

Source: The Telegraph August 09, 2017 21:41 UTC