Gujarat Confidential: Contesting Claims

The Vijay Rupani-led government found itself in a tight spot after the Ease of Doing Business rankings were declared recently. Gujarat had slipped from the third to fifth spot.

In the video, Vaghela was seen saying that he belongs to Banaskantha and would ask the party to let him contest from that constituency in the next LS polls.

BJP MP from Patan constituency, Liladhar Vaghela, has put his party in a spot over his ‘wish’ to contest the Lok Sabha elections from Banaskantha while asking current party MP from the seat and Union minister Haribhai Chaudhary to vacate the same for him. On Sunday, a video showing Vaghela giving an interview to electronic media persons went viral on WhatsApp groups. In the video, Vaghela was seen saying that he belongs to Banaskantha and would ask the party to let him contest from that constituency in the next LS polls. Vaghela went on to say that he had allowed Chaudhary to contest from Banaskantha in 2014 as the latter could have lost from Patan. “But this time, I will be exercising my right to contest from Banaskantha. And if Haribhai also wants to contest from there, it will be for the party to take a call, and I will hold on to the party,” Vaghela said in the video. When The Indian Express contacted Vaghela over the video, he first confirmed having given the interview. However, on further queries related to his interview, Vaghela said he did not remember if he had given any such interview. “I am 85 now. So, I do not remember, if I said so,” Vaghela said.

Future Plans

M S Dagur, a 1984-batch IAS officer of Gujarat cadre, has vast experience in Resettlement and Rehabilitation (R&R) of people affected by the Narmada project. He has handled the portfolio of R&R for such people for nearly two decades. He is also considered to have almost all details of the Narmada project, especially R&R, at his fingertips. Now, Dagur is mulling bringing his experiences together in the form of a book on the human aspect of R&R in the Narmada project. Due to retire on July 31, he got a two-year extension in the recent transfer orders of IAS officers. He was transferred to Gujarat Narmada Valley Fertilizers Limited in Bharuch as Managing Director. He was planning to write the book after his retirement, but now he may start during the extension period.

Keeping Mum

The Vijay Rupani-led government found itself in a tight spot after the Ease of Doing Business rankings were declared recently. Gujarat had slipped from the third to fifth spot. However, a senior officer said, what is causing the government a bigger heartburn is that it cannot say much in protest as the rankings are done by the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) and World Bank. According to a senior officer, there is a problem in the ranking methodology and Gujarat should have got second rank, and an explanation has been sought from DIPP. “Imagine what would have happened had a non-BJP party been in power at the Centre. This government could have done at least five press conferences, trumpeting about the injustice of the Centre. But today, everything is of the BJP. So the political leadership is left with no option but to keep quiet,” said the officer.

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