(Eds: Clubs related stories)New Delhi/Rajkot, Oct 28 (PTI) The BJP today accusedAhmed Patel of having "deep relations" with a Gujarat hospitalwhere an alleged ISIS operative worked before his arrest, evenas the Congress defended its senior leader, dubbing the demandfor his resignation from the Rajya Sabha as "outrageous".
Patel, political secretary to Congress president SoniaGandhi, is in the eye of a political storm after Gujarat ATSarrested two suspected Islamic State operatives from Surat forallegedly planning terror attacks.
One of them was Kasim Stimberwala, who worked as alaboratory technician at Sardar Patel Hospital in Ankleshwartown of Bharuch district with which Patel had been associatedas a trustee.
"Patel has deep relations with the hospital since 1979.
Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi owe an explanation to the people(on this issue)," Union minister and senior BJP leader MukhtarAbbas Naqvi told reporters in New Delhi.
Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani had yesterday soughtthe resignation of Patel from the Rajya Sabha.
"This is a serious issue, as a terrorist was arrestedfrom a hospital which is being run by Ahmed Patel...Patel,Rahul Gandhi and the Congress must come clean on the issue. Wealso want Patel to resign as Rajya Sabha MP," Rupani told apress conference.
Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram, who was inGujarat's Rajkot, today called Rupani's demand "outrageous".
"I am amazed by this kind of outrageous demand. AhmedPatel was a trustee of the hospital and had resigned in 2015.
This person who was arrested seems to have joined the hospitalas a technician last year and had resigned a couple of daysprior to his arrest," the former Union minister said.
"Now, if somebody who has joined in the last one year asa technician has ISIS connect, then how a trustee of threeyears ago is responsible," he asked at a press conference.
Patel had rejected the charge as "completely baseless",and urged the BJP not to politicise matters pertaining tonational security and divide the peace-loving Gujaratis.
The Congress' communications department head RandeepSurjewala also slammed the BJP for its attack on Patel, one ofthe party's key stragetists and a long-standing Gandhi familyloyalist, calling it a "sinister conspiracy".
Surjewala said that neither Patel nor his family memberswere trustees of the hospital, named after Sardar Patel, orhad any role in its administration.
Mounting a counteroffensive, Surjewala also asked thesaffron party to come clean on why the central and Maharashtragovernments were clueless when underworld don Dawood Ibrahim'swife visited Mumbai and flew back to Pakistan last year.
"Rupani has resorted to making such despicable statementsand conspiracy for the BJP is afraid that 6.5 crore Gujaratisare going to reject it completely (in the Assembly polls).
This shows the level to which the failed chief minister canstoop to out of fear of BJP's defeat," Surjewala said in astatement in the national capital.
He alleged that the BJP-led governments and its leadershave proved to be weak in the fight against terrorism.
Surjewala referred to the 1999 Kandahar plane hijackepisode to attack the BJP, asking "didn't the previous NDAgovernment release (extremist group Jaish-e-Mohammad's chief)Maulana Masood Azhar and others in Afghanistan?" PTI PTI VITVJA PD NRB ENM KR NM SMN SKSK.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.