Dinsha J Patel, minister of state for petroleum and gas, will take on Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi from Maninagar in next month's assembly election.

Patel, a Congress member of Parliament from Kaira in Gujarat, was chosen to take on Modi in what is considered the latter's stronghold. There were initially not many Congress leaders willing to take on Modi, but Patel, sources said, evinced interest in the electoral battle. The Congress seems to have decided to seriously join the battle.

If Modi is banking on his image to see him through, the Congress too seems to have chosen a perfect contender against him. Patel is said to be the Congress's Mr Clean, and in a political career spanning four decades he has remained untouched by any scandal.

It should be an interesting contest. If Patel does the unthinkable and brings Modi down, he will earn the tag of a giant-killer, which should enable him to make a strong bid for the chief ministership if the Congress manages to trounce the Bharatiya Janata Party.