‘Damaged public image’: Congress leader Vasoya sends defamation notice to MLA Italia over bribery allegations

The notice has been sent to Gopal Italia through a registered post.

Rajkot district Congress president Vasoya, in his notice, alleged, “While campaigning for the Visavadar bypolls, you (Italia) and your party leaders damaged my public image, through a fake stunt, stating that I bribed an AAP worker. My public image has been damaged as you shared the fake video on social media platforms. To compensate for such an act, Rs 10 crore should be paid within 10 days, and if you fail to do so, legal action will be taken against you in the court.”

Hitting back at the Congress leader, AAP State General Secretary Manoj Sorathiya said, “We are ready to face legal battle. We have all the evidence, including the CCTV footage showing Congress leader Vasoya bribing AAP leaders to work against the party in the Visavadar assembly bypolls”.

“We have also filed a complaint about the bribe incident with the State Election Commission and submitted all the necessary evidence,” Sorathiya added.

Sharing details about the incident, Sorathiya alleged, “Initially, the Congress was not even active in the Visavadar bypolls. There was a direct fight between BJP candidate Kirit Patel and AAP candidate Gopal Italia. The Congress, however, played as the B team of the BJP and was bribing our leaders to do anti-party activities”.

Sorathiya claimed, “The Congress leaders bribed AAP president of Visavadar taluka, Mahendra Dobariya, and told him to stay within the party while engaging in anti-party activities. Later, based on Vasoya’s instructions, Dobariya called AAP leader Hardev Vikma and offered him a bribe of Rs 2 lakh”.

“Dobariya also asked Vikma to come to a private hotel in Visavadar town on June 18 afternoon, a day before the Visavadar bypolls. Vikma informed us about the call. Acting on our instructions, Vikma went to the hotel and reached room number 205, where he received cash Rs 2 lakh from Vasoya. During the meeting, he was also told Vikma to make a video against Gopal Italia and the party,” Sorathiya alleged.

“We have got the CCTV footage of the entire operation and even the hotel room. Lalit Vasoya and Manoj Dobariya were present in the room. Following this incident, we complained to the State Election Commission. Our party leader Hardip Vikma also gave his statements to the Election Commission, but no action has been taken so far,” he added.

“After Manoj Dobariya’s anti-party activities came to the fore, the AAP suspended him from the party”, sources said.

Sorathiya added, “We have got enough material against Lalit Vasoya… so we are ready to face all the legal battles. We will submit all the evidence in the court against him. We will not apologise,” he added further

Expressing his support for Vasoya, Congress party spokesperson Manish Doshi told The Indian Express, “Lalit Vasoya is a strong leader of our party… He is a former MLA and was also part of the Patidar movement. He was one of the in-charges of the Visavadar assembly seat”.

“He has served a defamation notice to Gopal Italia after finding that the latter damaged his public image. We support Lalit Vasoya… he is our leader,” Doshi added.

Despite repeated attempts, Congress leader Lalit Vasoya and MLA Italia did not respond to the phone calls for their remarks over the issue.