BJP top brass in Gujarat plan damage control

The party discusses political fallout of ongoing Patidar agitation in the wake of upcoming local body elections

In a bid to take stock of the situation and plan accordingly in the wake of the coming local body elections in Gujarat, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s state unit met in Gandhinagar on Friday.  Led by national leader Dinesh Sharma, the meeting with party legislators saw the participation of Gujarat chief minister Anandiben Patel and state president R C Faldu.

Sharma, in-charge for Gujarat, discussed the political fallout of the ongoing Patidar agitation, even as the party decided to plan and take damage control measures ahead of the polls in October. Apart from Anandiben Patel, around 37 MLAs and six ministers from the party belong to the Patidar community.

Violence had broken out in several parts of the state with the police imposing curfew in many areas on Tuesday night, after the 22-year-old convenor of Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) Hardik Patel, who had led the rally in Ahmedabad, was detained by police before being released the same night.

Peace prevailed on Friday too with no untoward incident of violence being reported in Gujarat. While the Army continued to stage flag march in sensitive areas, curfew was lifted in three out of nine areas in Ahmedabad and in all other parts of the state on Friday.  The state administration continued to impose ban on SMS and mobile data services.

In a blow to the government, the high court ordered an investigation in the case of a police custodial death of a Patidar youth.

Summoning chief secretary G R Aloria to explain the law and order situation in Gujarat, the high court on Friday also directed a panel of four doctors to conduct a fresh autopsy on the body. The two-judge bench directed the government to place on record a report on the action planned to maintain law and order in the state.

The family of the deceased, 32-year-old Shwetang Patel, had moved the HC alleging that while he was picked up by the police from his Bapunagar residence on Tuesday night, they were informed by police that he had died.

The police claimed Patel had died on his way to hospital after falling unconscious in the lock-up on Wednesday morning.  The high court, which on Friday noted the death ‘looked homicidal’, also directed the panel of doctors to videograph the entire process of autopsy and not to dispose of the body until further orders

Earlier in the day, the Assembly’s  monsoon session saw Opposition Congress MLAs being instructed to leave even as they continued to demand a discussion on the prevailing law and order situation. The Congress also demanded state health minister Nitin Patel to come clear on his recent statement, where he alleged that the Opposition was apparently pulling strings from behind and stoking the agitation.