NEW DELHI: Amidst the dust and din in the ongoing Parliament session, top leaders of both Congress and BJP are pointing their political antenna to Gujarat, where a battle of nerves is on over filling three Rajya Sabha vacancies next month.The prime focus is on Ahmed Patel , the political secretary to Congress president Sonia Gandhi, who has filed his nomination on Wednesday to renew his RS term. He is suddenly finding himself in some unexpected political turbulence. Though under normal circumstances – as was the case during the last two decades – Patel’s return to RS would have been a foregone conclusion, the dramatic revolt of Shankarsinh Vaghela and eight party MLAs cross-voting for BJP presidential candidate Ram Nath Kovind have thickened the plot and heightened the suspense.Delicate number game and the plots make Gujarat RS polls interesting. Congress, with 57 MLAs, needs only a minimum of 45 votes to retain the RS seat. But suspense is about what is cooking between BJP central leadership and the Vaghela camp. Even if the eight Congress MLAs, who cross-voted, during Presidential polls decide not to vote for Patel in RS, he could still make it with the remaining 49 votes. But the big question is whether Vaghela has kept more “sleeper cells” among Congress legislators with a design strike during RS elections.A real signal of how far the BJP central leadership really wants to go after Patel will come from whether the saffron party will field just two candidates for its winnable two RS seats, or will it field a third one– a direct or a proxy nominee to make the fight for the third slot, making it the extremely tricky preferential voting system. Congress camp, taking no chance at all, is also wooing two NCP MLAs as well other two independents. But, then, BJP too may be doing the same.Incidentally, Patel is reportedly grooming his son Faisal for helping him make his electoral debut from in the December Assembly polls from a seat from his base. “Faisal has been associated with social work in the constituency so he is a known face. If he were to win an Assembly seat from Bharuch, he would be a natural claimant for Lok Sabha ticket in 2019 elections,” said a Gujarat Congress leader.Given Patel’s demonstrated mastery in political management and survival skills in the perennially slippery inner corridors of Congress high command for decades, not even the most audacious BJP opponent will treat grounding Patel an easy task. “It may have become a little tricky, but we all know Ahmed bhai excels when it comes to dealing with such situations,” said a Congress MP.Yet, the hitherto unfamiliar aggression the political Delhi is witnessing in the Modi/Shah-led ruling establishment’s outreach in checkmating rivals with unexpected yorkerss, there are many worried faces in Congress side. Because Patel is no ordinary Congress leader. He is Sonia Gandhi’s long-trusted eyes and ears in Congress leadership, AICC’s multitasker in political management, resource-mobilisation and prime political deal-maker, within and with allies.So, if BJP takes a fullblown shot at Patel, it is as good as hitting at the very core of the Sonia establishment, something that makes Patel’s victory crucial for the AICC establishment. Adding to that is the delicacy of the time as Patel and many other top party leaders are in the middle of piloting a harmonising transaction of Congress from Sonia’s leadership to Rahul’s.