Patel was chosen by the
Indian National Congress to contest against
Narendra Modi on the
Maninagar constituency in the
2007 Gujarat Legislative Assembly election. His selection was based on his clean image and his
Patel community background. He was selected after congress could not find any suitable candidate to oppose
Narendra Modi. He was also being projected as the future
Chief Minister of Gujarat. He lost the elections by more than 86, 000 votes. In the previous elections he lost the assembly elections in the
Nadiad constituency against Pankaj Desai, however he has won the Parliament elections since 1975 from
Nadiad. ==References==