Charges against Patel PM’s strategy, says Congress

AHMEDABAD/NEW DELHI: The Congress on Saturday alleged that the charges levelled by the Gujarat police against late party leader Ahmed Patel were part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “systematic strategy to absolve himself of any responsibility for the communal carnage” of 2002.

In a statement, Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh said the party “categorically refutes the mischievous charges manufactured” against the late Ahmed Patel.

“This is part of the Prime Minister’s systematic strategy to absolve himself of any responsibility for the communal carnage unleashed when he was chief minister of Gujarat in 2002,” he said.

Patel’s daughter Mumtaz reacted sharply to the allegations, saying her father’s name still holds weight to be used for “political conspiracies” to malign the Opposition. “So their campaign for Gujarat election has begun by dragging Ahmed Patel’s name in conspiracy theories. They did it before election when he was alive & are still doing it when he is no more,” she tweeted.