3 min readAhmedabadUpdated: Apr 16, 2026 01:03 PM IST
Congress MP Shaktisinh Gohil on Wednesday night lambasted the BJP for carrying out "cheap politics" to make Congress candidates withdraw their nominations from the local body elections. (File image)
Hours after Bhavnagar City Congress president Manoharsinh Gohil alias Lalbha was detained at Bortalav police station for allegedly abducting his own party candidate for Bhavnagar Municipal Corporation (BMC) election, the candidate himself released a video and submitted a notarised affidavit stating that he had gone into hiding in the neighbouring Amreli district “to protect democracy”.
Bhavnagar SP Nitesh Pandey confirmed that Lalbha Gohil was booked for abduction of Bharat Ramesh Kambad and brought to Bortalav police station for questioning, but he was allowed to leave later.
The FIR was filed on the basis of a complaint by Sailesh Ramesh Kambad, a brother of Congress candidate Kambad, stating that the latter had been missing since April 14.
Congress MP Shaktisinh Gohil on Wednesday night lambasted the BJP for carrying out “cheap politics” to make Congress candidates withdraw their nominations from the local body elections.
Gohil told The Indian Express, “Our candidate had left Bhavnagar of his own volition, then did a video and the police still booked Lalbha Gohil, the Bhavnagar City president, for abduction and detained him. They let him go only after the candidate submitted an affidavit. But I’ve never seen such a misuse of power in my life. In this particular case, the FIR is also suspicious where the candidate’s brother is saying someone told him that his brother may have been abducted.”
The Indian Express has also seen the affidavit submitted by the Congress candidate Kambad, who has filed his nomination from the Vadva-A seat from Ward-8 of Bhavnagar Municipal Corporation (BMC).
The notarized documents stated, “I solemnly swear that since I am the Congress party candidate from BMC, so that I do not face pressure, inducement or threat before the last day of withdrawing the nomination, I have, of my own volition and to protect democracy, stayed away from Bhavnagar.
Nobody has taken me or abducted me against my will. When I reached Amreli, I learnt that there were rumours of my abduction. This is my affidavit stating that I have left of my own volition and any complaints of my abduction are false.”
Another abduction case
An FIR filed was in the case of “abduction” of Congress candidate from Bela seat of the Rapar taluka panchayat in Kutch district.
This FIR was filed on April 13 at Adesar police station in Kutch (East) after Mahesh Kesha Bhil, a resident of Bhimasar village in Rapar, gave a complaint that three men had abducted his brother, 23-year-old Rajesh Keshav Bhil, late at night on April 12.
Bhill belongs to a Scheduled Tribe community. Kutch (East) police said that the search for Bhill is underway.
Brendan Dabhi works with The Indian Express, focusing his comprehensive reporting primarily on Gujarat. He covers the region's most critical social, legal, and administrative sectors, notably specializing at the intersection of health, social justice, and disasters.
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