Savli MLA Inamdar quits over differences, withdraws decision after BJP assures action

Earlier in the day, Inamdar had sent his resignation mail stating he was “listening to the inner voice of the conscience”. “At a time when Prime Minister Narendra Modi is going to contest the Lok Sabha elections for a third term, in the interest of the party and assured by their response to my grievances, I have decided to withdraw my resignation… They have taken my representation seriously. I have put forth two issues that were bothering me — the respect that old party leaders should get in the party and also the issue of the Mahi Weir construction, which was to begin before the enforcement of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) but will be delayed now,” Inamdar told mediapersons after meeting Paatil.

He said the Mahi Weir project, approved by the state government based on an irrigation department proposal in 2021, will be further delayed by more than eight months as the monsoon will begin by the time the elections are completed. The Rs 350-crore weir on Mahi River near Poicha village in Savli taluka was proposed to retain water and prevent drowning accidents due to river erosion in the tourist spot of Lakhanpur in Savli.

On his other grievances, Inamdar emphasised that old party leaders should be made part of the decision-making at the lower level. “It is not in protest of any one leader…I have spoken about everything that bothered me. I am a party loyalist and I will remain a party loyalist,” he said.

Asserting that he would not seek another election from Savli in the 2027 Assembly polls, Inamdar said, “It is my sentiment that the development works I have envisioned for my constituency should be completed in my term because I am not seeking re-election in 2027 as this is my third term (as MLA)”.

It is not the first time that Inamdar has “resigned” and withdrawn his resignation. In January 2020, Inamdar had sent a similar resignation by email to the then Assembly Speaker stating that “neither the bureaucrats nor the ministers” have been paying any heed to his requests “for completion of development works”; thus making it “untenable” to continue as a “conscientious representative of the people”.

He had withdrawn his resignation after hours of closed-door discussions with senior party leaders. “…and this time too, the party has assured me of resolution and in the interest of the party in the upcoming polls, I have decided to reconsider my decision to resign as MLA,” he said Tuesday.