AHMEDABAD: Congress stalwart Ahmed Patel , who retained his Rajya Sabha seat in Gujarat in a humdinger of a contest, today said his victory has come as a boost to the party workers and set an aim of 125 seats in the assembly polls due later this year.Patel, the high-profile political secretary to party president Sonia Gandhi , admitted that the election was the "toughest" one he had ever fought in his life.He beat BJP nominee and Congress defector Balwantinh Rajput in the bitterly-fought contest marked by defection of MLAs, political manoeuvring and a see-sawing number game.Congress workers today celebrated Patel's victory by bursting crackers and distributing sweets at many places. "This was the toughest election that I have fought in my life. I thank my party leaders and my MLAs," Patel told a gathering of Congress MLAs at the Gandhinagar Circuit House.The meeting was convened by Patel to thank the MLAs who stood by him against "all kind of offers from the BJP", party leaders said. "The morale of our party workers has skyrocketed after this win. With this victory, we will have to set a target of winning more than 125 seats in the coming elections.

Source: Economic Times August 09, 2017 14:18 UTC