Embarrassment for Cong: suicide bid by woman they dropped

A Congress municipal councillor from Dariapur ward 3, Bastawala was nominated by the Congress from Kalupur. Barely 24 hours after her name was announced—for which she has the receipt for Rs 5,000—she was replaced after supporters of her rival and eventual candidate, Farooq Shaikh, attacked the Gujarat PCC office and used abusive language against her.

Bastawala was apparently also cold shouldered when she called up the Congress high command in New Delhi to register her protest. ‘‘She was upset about the character assassination and the behaviour of some Congress workers,’’ her sister, Humida Diliwala, said. Safibhai Bastawala, Nazneen’s husband, added: ‘‘She had been feeling low for the last two days. What shocked her the most is the fact that the person, who attacked her house and insulted her in public, has been given a ticket.’’

Kalupur Inspector D S Mehta said Bastawala, in her magisterial declaration, said she tried to commit suicide as she was ‘‘depressed after she was denied a ticket.’’ Stating that Sonia Gandhi had allotted her a ticket, she said the State leadership took it away following opposition from Sheikh.

Party spokesman Hasmukh Patel claimed that Bastawala had been dropped because she didn’t have ‘‘winnability’’. ‘‘It appears that she was frustrated after she was denied a ticket. So many persons haven’t been given tickets but none of them attempted suicide,’’ he said.