Ahead of the Assembly polls in Gujarat, a war of words escalated between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Congress over allegations levelled by Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, linking Congress leader Ahmed Patel to an alleged Islamic State terrorist arrested by Gujarat’s Anti Terrorist Squad (ATS) from Surat.
Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani late on Friday night stated that one of the alleged terrorists arrested by the ATS worked as a lab technician in a trust-run hospital in Bharuch, in whichMr. Patel was one of the trustees.
Taking forward the allegations, Union Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi demanded an explanation from the Congress party and asked how come a “terrorist” could work in the hospital in which Ahmed Patel was associated with.
Mr Naqvi asked Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Vice President Rahul Gandhi to come clean on issue. Mr Naqvi cited the arrest made by Gujarat ATS and said Kasim Timberwala had worked with Sardar Patel Hospital in Ankleshwar where Mr Patel was a trustee.
Immediately after Chief Minister made the allegations in a late night press conference, Ahmed Patel refuted and held that he had resigned as trustee of the hospital in 2013.
“My party and I appreciate the ATS effort to nab the two terrorists. I demand strict and speedy action against them. The allegation put forward by BJP are completely baseless and we request the matter of national security not to be politicised keeping elections in mind. Let’s not divide peace loving Gujaratis while fighting terrorism,” Mr Patel said on his twitter handle.
On Saturday, Sardar Patel hospital also issued a statement and said Chief Minister defamed the hospital. According to the hospital trustee Jayesh Patel, no member of Mr Ahmed Patel’s family is trustee in the hospital and the person who has been arrested by the ATS had resigned from the hospital before his arrest.
According to Congress party insiders, Mr Patel is likely to file a civil and criminal defamation suit against Gujarat Chief Minister for linking him with suspected terrorist.
Meanwhile, political observers in Gujarat describe the latest controversy as an attempt to divert the poll agenda from development to terrorism and communal polarization.
“It is evident that BJP’s development agenda is not working so they want to bring a communal angle in the election,” a political observer from Gandhinagar said.
