Congress MLAs missing, BJP makes most of relief work

While Chief Minister Vijay Rupani is currently camping in Banaskantha and Patan districts, Union minister Smriti Irani, a Rajya Sabha nominee from Gujarat, visited Dhanera and Tharad talukas of Banaskantha on Monday.

Shankersinh Vaghela, who quit Congress on July 21, leading to a crisis in the party ahead of the Rajya Sabha election with resignations of six MLAs, was also touring the flood-ravaged areas of Banaskantha, Patan and Morbi districts till Sunday. On Sunday, he had told mediapersons in Morbi that “the MLAs of Banaskantha should have been here now, with the flood-affected people… their being in a luxury resort while people go hungry in their constituencies presents a picture in contrast”.

Disapproving of Congress whisking away its MLAs, he told The Indian Express on Monday that back in 1995 when he had taken away BJP MLAs to a resort in Khajuraho, “it was to break away from BJP. Back then, BJP had the right to call back its MLAs and I had the right to keep them. Here, there is no faction within the Congress, so where is the question of taking the MLAs away?”. Vaghela’s son Mahendrasinh, a Congress MLA, is among those who has not gone to Bengaluru.

On Monday, BJP circulated interview clips of the Congress MLAs in Bengaluru, parodied on the popular Gujarati song Jalsa kar…(Have fun…). In one of the clips, Deesa MLA Gova Rabari is heard saying, “We haven’t left Gujarat, it is only because they (BJP) were spreading rumours, so we came here to be together, and enjoy…”

There were also reports that Congress MLAs of Banaskantha were under pressure and wanted to return to their constituencies, given the fact that the Assembly elections were too close. When contacted, Congress MLA from Amreli constituency Paresh Dhanani, who is in Bengaluru, however, said, “Our MLAs interacted with media for more than two hours yesterday. And, it is clear that we are here voluntarily. If after making things so clear, there is confusion, I must say that it is being created by somebody intentionally.”

“The issue is not, if Congress MLAs are happy or not, the issue is why they had to leave their constituencies. Our MLAs in Bansakantha were very much involved in the relief and rescue operations, but a situation was created under which they had to leave. So, the subject of discussion should be ‘why Congress MLAs had to leave their constituencies’.”

BJP spokesman Bharat Pandya said BJP was not just a political party, but a social organisation also. “The reason why we put lotus print on the relief material is that we have to convey to our donors also that the relief is being sent by the organisation in a coordinated manner. BJP as a service organisation has been associated with many campaigns like beti bachao-beti padhao, tree plantation and cleanliness drive. We do it all under lotus symbol,” Pandya said.

BJP workers from Gandhinagar district and Ahmedabad city and district units have prepared the relief material kits — 2,750 ration kits, 4,000 pairs of slippers, 1,000 utensil kits, 4,000 saris and 3,000 kg wheat flour. Also included were four truckloads of school books and study material, and 20 truckloads of grass and fodder, said a party release.