Meanwhile, MLA Madhu Srivastav gets the jitters

Even as the stage is set for framing charges in the Best Bakery case today, Waghodia MLA Madhu Srivastava seems to have got the jitters. Wit...

Even as the stage is set for framing charges in the Best Bakery case today, Waghodia MLA Madhu Srivastava seems to have got the jitters. With police tightening the noose around the accused involved in intimidating witnesses in the case, the legislator plans to launch a mass agitation — from Waghodia to Vadodara — on Friday against his ‘‘possible arrest’’.

Srivastava who began his political career as an Independent but acquired an anti-minority image after joining the BJP and his controversial role in the Bakery case, is now trying to shed his anti-Muslim image. Speaking to Express, the BJP leader said he was equally popular among Muslims in his constituency. ‘‘The one-day token fast on Friday is being organised by my Hindu and Muslim supporters as they are upset that my name has been dragged into the Best Bakery controversy.’’

He said after the token fast in Waghodia, such programmes would be held in several villages. After Ganapati celebrations, his Hindu and Muslim supporters would hold a one-day token fast at Gandhi Nagargruh in Vadodara to prove his secular credentials, he said. ‘‘I have good relations with Muslims even in Vadodara and you all will see it by yourself when my Muslim supporters turn up in large numbers at Gandhi Nagargruh,’’ he added. He, however, did not give any specific date for the programme.

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Asked if the agitation was aimed at dissuading local police from arresting him, he said: ‘‘I am not afraid of arrest because I am innocent.’’

In their affidavits to the Supreme Court, key witness Zaheera Sheikh and her mother Sehrunnisa have alleged that they withdrew their statements in the face of threats from Srivastava.

Zaheera’s brother Nafitullah has said that he and his family were threatened by the legislator over phone and also on the court premises. Police inquiry has revealed that Srivastava had made one call from his cellphone to Nafitullah’s phone during the trial.

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