Congress leader Ahmed Patel early on Wednesday managed to pull of a dramatic victory in Gujarat Rajya Sabha elections. Veteran Congress leader Kamal Nath said about Ahmed Patel’s victory, the drama that preceded it and what it means for the Congress party.

The scalp of a man who served at the sanctum sanctum of Congress during its heydays, who dragged the Congress along during challenging times and worked behind the scenes in stitching a rainbow coalition of allies post 2004 through successful implementation of saam, daam, dand and bhed, would have insured BJP from 2004-type surprises.

Ahmed’s ouster from the Upper House would have forced the new guard under Rahul Gandhi deeper into the hot end of power-brooking where wheeling-dealings take place, and where kings and queens are made and unmade. The new crop of Congress dynasty have not distinguished themselves so far either as mass leaders or Machiavellian operators.

Instead, Ahmed lives to fight another day. He has shown a remarkable ability in fighting for his seat, even upsetting BJP’s calculations by influencing some of Shah’s pawns. This win may well transfer some steel into Congress in the upcoming Assembly polls. Shah won’t be comfortable.

Amit Shah will be smarting. On the day he completed three years as BJP president, taking the party to unprecedented heights, his inability to oust Congress leader Ahmed Patel from Rajya Sabha is likely to sting him in more ways than one. It may even spoil, to a certain extent, his debut in the Upper House of the Parliament.