The Congress today found itself in spot after its leader Paresh Dhanani backed newly-appointed Gujarat unit in-charge Rajiv Satav for 'supporting' anti-Narmada dam activist Medha Patkar, giving a handle to the BJP which said the Congress always worked against Gujarat's interest.
The row erupted on the day Satav, who hails from Maharashtra, arrived in Ahmedabad to attend a function where Amit Chavda will take charge as new president of the Gujarat Congress.
On the eve of Satav's arrival, BJP spokesperson Bharat Pandya re-tweeted Satav's tweets of 2017 in which the Congress leader had purportedly posted a letter supporting Patkar and opposing the Sardar Sarovar Dam project, which is the lifeline of Gujarat.
"I am thankful to Medha Patkar for her anti-Narmada Dam agitation of 2017. Her agitation benefited Gujarat. Satavji has done a right thing by supporting Medha Patkar," Dhanani, Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Assembly, told reporters today.
Dhanani also praised Patkar for taking up the cause of the dam outstees.
Chavda, meanwhile, alleged that the BJP was raising non-issues to divert attention of people from "failures" of the Gujarat and Central governments on various fronts.
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However, latching on to the comments of Dhanani, Chief Minister Vijay Rupani said the statements of Congress leaders have "exposed" their relationship with Patkar who had worked against the interests of Gujarat.
Rupani said Patkar always worked against the interests of Gujarat.
"The Sardar Sarovar Dam (SSD) project got delayed due to Patkar. The Congress today stands exposed as its leaders are supporting such anti-Gujarat Medha Patkar openly. This (statement) reveals that there is a relationship between the Congress and Patkar who had worked for so many years so that dam project remains hanging," he said.
Rupani further said the SSD project materialised only because of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
"Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave the final approval for completion of the project in just 17 days after assuming the charge," he said.
Pandya said the very mindset of the Congress was anti-Gujarat and "this is the reason they have appointed a person (Satav) supporting anti-Gujarat forces like Medha Patkar as its state in-charge".
He said Satav has deleted his old tweets after the row.
When reached for comments, Satav said the BJP was raking up issues like the Narmada dam to divert the attention of the people from issues like Dalit agitation.
The Sardar Sarovar dam project was inaugurated in September 2017 by the prime minister, 55 years after its foundation stone was laid by the first premier Jawaharlal Nehru in 1961.
The delay was attributed mainly to litigations and environmental agitations.
An intense water crisis looms large over parts of Gujarat this year as the water levels in the SSD have hit the dead storage below 110.64 metres.
The state government has stopped the supply of water for irrigation and industrial purposes in a bid to utilise it only for drinking purposes.
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