The Congress has suspended Navghan Meghani, deputy leader of Opposition in Morbi district panchayat, for what the party claims to be his defiance of the whip issued for election to the posts of president and vice-president of the district panchayat last month, foiling the party’s plans to seize power in it with the help of BJP rebels. Shailesh Parmar, a delegate of the AICC and leader authorised by the Congress to issue whips for election to the posts of president and vice-presidents of district panchayat and taluka panchayats last month, had issued an order suspending Meghani from primary membership of the party for six years on October 6. The matter came to light on Monday. “.Instead of voting in favour of Congress candidate at the election of vice-president of Morbi district panchayat on September 13, 2023, you remained absent. Therefore, as per orders of the honourable state president, you are suspended from Congress party for six years and a process will be initiated to get you disqualified as a member (of district panchayat),” the order said. In the 24-member general board of the district panchayat, BJP has 14 members and Congress 10. Hansa Pardhi of the BJP was elected president unopposed as she was the only candidate for the post reserved for a member from the Scheduled Castes (SC). Congress didn’t field a candidate as none of its 10 members is from the SC. However, it did field Mahesh Parejiya for the post of vice-president. But he lost out to Hirabhai Tamariya of BJP by nine votes against 14, as Meghani didn’t attend a special meeting on the election of president and vice-president. When contacted, Meghani (64), who represents Mahika seat in Morbi district panchayat at Wankaner taluka, said: “I had gone to the district panchayat office to attend the meeting. But for the last four months, hypertension has been bothering me and I felt chest pain at the district panchayat. Therefore, I went to a hospital, where the doctor advised me to get hospitalised. So, I couldn’t participate in the election of the vice-president.” However, Parmar said that due to Meghani’s defiance, Congress lost an opportunity to seize power in Morbi district panchayat. “There was rebellion in the BJP and Congress had an opportunity to seize the post of vice-president. But it didn’t happen as Meghani stayed away, citing ill health. But in response to our showcause notice, he couldn’t produce medical papers of him suffering from any serious disease. Our local leaders in Morbi said that the BJP managed to keep him away from the election,” Parmar, a Congress MLA from Danilimda in Ahmedabad, said. Congress leaders said that three BJP members had agreed to vote for the Congress candidate for vice-president’s post and then seize control of various committees of the district panchayat. “But their only condition was that all 10 Congress members should be present at the election meeting. That didn’t happen as Meghani stayed away. This meant that even if the three BJP members were to cross-vote, there would have been a tie as Congress and BJP candidates would have got 12 votes each and would have exposed rebel BJP members to risks. Hence, they toed the BJP line after Meghani remained absent,” said a leader. But a section of Congress leaders are unhappy with the development. “It is difficult to get a senior worker with following at the grassroots. This may hurt Congress in the longer run,” a senior functionary said. ]Incidentally, Congress had swept local body polls in 2015 and won all three Assembly seats in 2017. However, in 2021 local body polls, it could retain only Maliya municipality while lost four taluka panchayats and the district panchayats to the BJP. Then, in the 2022 Assembly election, BJP snatched away all three Assembly seats from Congress. Meghani is serving his third term as a district panchayat member. Meghani blamed Mahmedjaved Peerzada, Congress MLA from Wankaner from 2007 to 2022, for his suspension. “I have been a loyal supporter of the Peerzada family for more than two decades. But as the Wankaner seat has more than one lakh voters from the Koli community – to which I belong – the former MLA sees me as a rival. Therefore, he got me suspended.” Peerjada, however, underlined how the Meghanis have been leaning towards the BJP of late. “I helped Meghani win twice from district panchayat seats dominated by voters from minority community. Not only that, I also facilitated the entry of his son Ashwin to Wankaner APMC. However, in the run-up to state polls last December, Ashwin joined the BJP. Who would believe that he didn’t know about his son's plans to defect to the BJP? If he indeed is so popular, he should resign from the district panchayat and seek re-election without Congress symbol." Peerjada added that in the recent decades, only one Koli leader, Popat Jinjariya, has managed to win from Wankaner – once as an Independent and once as a BJP candidate. “This speaks volumes about the character of Wakener constituency,” he said. Parmar said that Meghani might be an important worker but he had to be disciplined. “There is no question of thinking about his suspension hurting the Congress, as he has already caused damage to the party by his actions. A worker disobeying a party whip is fatal, irrespective of his importance, and this is the reason we had to take action against him,” he added.
