# SP MP says Rahul Gandhi was ‘so scared’ of Amethi in 2024 2026-10-04T06:02:42+00:00 | Politics | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 3 independent outlets Samajwadi Party MP Shiv Pal Singh Patel has claimed that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was reluctant to contest the 2024 Lok Sabha elections from Amethi and chose Raebareli because he was ‘so scared’. Patel told PTI Videos that Gandhi was ready to give up his seat and agreed to contest only after SP chief Akhilesh Yadav persuaded him and warned he would field his own candidate otherwise. Patel said the Congress would not have won a single seat in Uttar Pradesh without the alliance, crediting SP votes for the party’s six seats. He added that the Congress should not expect more than 50 seats in future seat-sharing. Uttar Pradesh Congress spokesperson Anshu Awasthi hit back, saying Patel should know his limits and that the SP must rein in leaders making such statements. ## Indian Opinion Analysis NDTV’s brief report framed Patel’s remark as a straightforward claim, without detailing the sharp exchange that followed. ABP Live and Times Now both carried the full Patel interview and the Congress rebuttal, making the political friction explicit. Times Now’s headline called the remarks a strain on INDIA bloc unity. All three outlets reported Patel’s core assertion that Gandhi was scared, and his warning that the Congress would drop to zero seats without an alliance. ABP Live and Times Now also quoted Patel’s dismissal of the Congress’ caste-based appointments and his claim that Dalits have shifted to the SP. The Congress response appears only in the fuller versions, leaving NDTV’s account incomplete on the war of words. The coverage uniformly ends on the Congress retort, with no next step named. ## Coverage Coverage: 3 sources, 3 neutral - ndtv.com (neutral report) Brief factual account of the claim, no rebuttal or context - abplive.com (neutral report) Full interview with both sides, wire-style neutral reporting - timesnownews.com (neutral report) Full interview plus headline highlighting INDIA bloc strain This brief was synthesised by AI from the 3 sources linked above, so one read covers every framing they carry. Tags: Akhilesh Yadav, Amethi, Raebareli, Rahul Gandhi, Samajwadi Party, Shiv Pal Singh Patel Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/sp-mp-says-rahul-gandhi-was-so-scared-of-amethi-in-2024/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/sp-mp-says-rahul-gandhi-was-so-scared-of-amethi-in-2024/#story-in-brief How this brief was made: an AI model read the reports linked above and wrote this summary and analysis, which were published automatically. Published briefs are sampled every hour by an automated quality check; the editor verifies its findings and approves corrections, and corrected briefs carry a dated correction line. Stance labels are editorial classifications of how each outlet framed this story, assigned by the same model, not ratings of the outlets. We do no original reporting. Methodology: https://indianopinion.org/ai-use-policy/