Everywhere he goes, Patel attracts a hoard of hangers-on, some convincing him that victory is just a step away. One such person saluted him and said, “I will shave off my moustache if you lose. I have no doubt about your victory.”
Patel addresses about eight meetings in his constituency everyday. He wants votes in the name of the Congress, Sonia Gandhi and the present government’s misdeeds. “He may be a rich man but how many of us have seen him before? Maybe the rich Patels here know him but will that get him votes from close to 150 villages in the constituency,” asked a villager.
The BJP, which has fielded Praful Patel, hasn’t lost this seat since 1995. Patels and Thakores account for around 90,000 of the two lakh voters in the constituency and that’s the votebank the party is eyeing.
“He has a lot of money and people are jumping on to the gravy train just for that,” said a BJP worker.
HIS ASSETS
(Indian and American properties)
• Moveable assets: Rs 27,84,19,770
• Immovable Assets: Rs 1,93,39,55,000
• Total assets: Rs 2,212,374,770
• Gold: 30 tolas (wife: 50 tolas)
• Cars: Mercedes Benz in the US, Mahindra Scorpio and Honda City in India
• Value of US assets: Rs 163 crore
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