Pandya withdraws his resignation

Apparently, Pandya, who was driven to the wall by Deputy Labour Minister Purshottam Solanki’s outbursts after his brother was arrested for attempt to kill a rival cable operator, has extracted an assurance from the Chief Minister that the Home Department won’t be bothered in this case. In other words, the party, on the surface, has sent tough signals to the Solanki camp.

Purshottam Solanki had alleged that his brother Bharat had been framed at Pandya’s instance, and also that the Home Department had launched a campaign of persecuting his Koli community. A day before Pandya’s quitting, Solanki had convened a community gathering and given an ultimatum to the government to act against "repressive" police officials or face an agitation in 30 days.

The end to the crisis of sorts in the Keshubhai Government and the party came ostensibly after a closed-door three-hour meeting between party bigwigs at the Chief Minister’s bungalow. Besides Keshubhai Patel, Pandya, State BJP president Rajendrasinh Rana, party general secretary and RSS hardliner Sanjay Joshi, another general secretary Gordhan Jhadaphia party spokesman Bharat Pandya and some others were present.

Pandya, as well as Gordhan Jhadaphia and spokesman Bharat Pandya, told reporters at the Chief Minister’s bungalow, "The party is committed to fighting criminal activities, irrespective of who is involved in them."

Haren said, "There are several influential persons in Gandhinagar who try to pressurise the Home Department; they may be brothers or relatives of ministers as well as others. Such pressures won’t work now."

Replying to a barrage of questions, Haren Pandya said, "Yesterday also, the party was committed to fighting criminals, but pressures began working on me in the Solanki case. First, he went to the police station and staged a demonstration against his brother’s arrest, and later did several other things."

Asked how was the situation now, he said, "Now I have a firm assurance from the Chief Minister and the party that the Home Department would have a free hand and the law would be allowed to take its course." The Solanki case is in court and there is no question of any interference, he said.

Pandya denied Solanki’s charge that his department was targetting members of the Koli community and said, "My police does not see a person’s community. They just see his crime. Even in the Solanki case, there is a Muslim and a person from a caste other than Koli among those arrested."

At the same time, Pandya avoided a categorical reply about whether he would take cognisance of the threat by Solanki of an agitation. He only said, "We will think about it later."

In retrospect, the party, by the resignation drama, has attempted to take the bull by the horns. Of course, the way it has been enacted reflects the BJP’s inability to handle persons of dubious background, who it had included in its ranks for political expediency.