Ahead of Gujarat polls, BJP mounts attack on Cong’s Ahmed Patel

Tribune News Service

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New Delhi, October 28

Ahead of Gujarat elections, the BJP has stepped up attack against its closest political rival in the state — the Congress.

Taking forward allegations of Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, Union minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi today demanded an explanation from the top Congress leadership about its leader Ahmed Patel’s “deep relations” with a Gujarat hospital where an alleged ISIS operative worked before his arrest.

Asking Congress president Sonia Gandhi and vice-president Rahul Gandhi to come clear, Naqvi said they needed to explain to the people Patel's "deep relations" with the hospital since 1979.

"It is not mere coincidence that Patel had deep relations with a hospital that also had links with terrorists," he said.

Notably, two suspected ISIS operatives were arrested by the Gujarat Anti-Terror Squad (ATS) three days ago.

According to an FIR, one of the accused, Kasim Stimberwala, earlier worked as a technician at Sardar Patel Hospital in Ankleshwar town of Bharuch district.

Rupani yesterday alleged that a suspected ISIS operative arrested recently used to work at the hospital where Patel had been a trustee earlier.

Naqvi said the BJP held national security above politics, claiming they were not trying to malign the Congress in view of the Gujarat Assembly polls.