Gujarat: Congress MLA Anant Patel alleges assault by ruling BJP forward of meeting elections

On Saturday (October 8), Congress MLA Anant Patel alleged that his convoy was attacked by BJP employees when he was en route to fulfill the sarpanch of Khergam city within the Navsari district of Gujarat.

As per studies, Patel claimed {that a} mob of round 50 BJP employees led by Navsari district panchayat president Bhikhubhai Ahir orchestrated the assault on him. While talking to Indian Express, he alleged, “BJP leader Bhikhubhai Ahir conspired the attack on us after coming to know about my visit to Khergam.”

“He had spread information on different social media groups and invited people to gather at the spot and informed them to teach us a lesson,” the Congress chief had asserted.

गुजरात में ‘पार-तापी रिवर लिंक प्रोजेक्ट’ के खिलाफ आदिवासी समाज की लड़ाई लड़ने वाले हमारे MLA अनंत पटेल जी पर भाजपा द्वारा कायराना हमला निंदनीय है।

यह BJP सरकार की बौखलाहट है। कांग्रेस पार्टी का हर एक कार्यकर्ता आदिवासियों के हक़ की लड़ाई के लिए आख़िरी साँस तक लड़ेगा।#DaroMat pic.twitter.com/rf9OY76lCZ

— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) October 8, 2022

Patel’s story was additional amplified by Congress scion Rahul Gandhi on Twitter. “The cowardly attack by the BJP on our MLA Anant Patel, who fought for the tribals against the ‘Par-Tapi River Link Project’ in Gujarat, is condemnable,” Gandhi had stated.

“This is the anger of the BJP government. Every worker of the Congress party will fight till the last breath for the rights of the tribal community,” he continued.

After the photographs of an ‘injured’ Anant Patel went viral on social media, scores of Congress employees reached Khergam and set hearth to the cement metal store of BJP chief Bhikhubhai Ahir. They additionally stopped firefighters from dousing the hearth.

BJP responds to the allegations

While talking in regards to the ‘attack’ on Anant Patel, Gujarat BJP Chief CR Patil remarked that the Congress chief was doing drama to stir sympathy forward of the meeting elections within the State.

“There has been no attack on Anant Patel. He himself has created this drama and tried to get sympathy. His supporters burned a shop of our district panchayat president Bhikhubhai Ahir, they torched houses and damaged furniture and caused huge losses,” Patil added.

He emphasised, “Such serious offence would result in seven years imprisonment, and police could even do firing (to control such a violent mob). Forget firing, police didn’t even lathicharge or lob tear gas shells.”

The State BJP chief additionally accused Anant Patel of deceptive the tribal neighborhood in regards to the Par-Tapi River Link Project, which has already been put aside by the BJP authorities.