Surat: Congress MLA from Vansda in South Gujarat claimed that he was attacked by Khergam in Navsari district. Anant Patel claimed that he was on way to meet Sarpanch of Khergam when his car was attacked. While Gujarat is going to witness the regular election of the State assembly in December this year, the MLA gave a call to the road block. An MLA claimed that the attack was pre-planned and conspired by Navsari district panchayat chief Bhikhu Ahir. Anant Patel’s supporters blocked the highway and entered into violence. Anant Patel claimed he has been attacked thrice so far.

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

Meanwhile reacting to this incident, BJP leader and Minister Naresh Patel said – the incident is a matter of probe, but after the incident the way the tribals were called to gather, the way this peaceful taluka of Khergam was disturbed, the way a shop was torched, the way a fire fighter vehicle reaching to douse the fire was damaged, the way Mamlatdar and Police vehicles were damaged, is it fair? A shop was torched as it belonged to one community, but there were other shops aligned to it. There was a petrol pump nearby. Khergam is part of my constituency and I have been elected here for two terms. There are other ways for political benefits, this is not the way. While a probe is going on, it is improper to disturb peace. The people of Khergam are peaceful and they would not associate themselves with such things. We have never seen violence here in the past.

Meanwhile, local police has registered Anant Patel’s complaint. Anant Patel has threatened that if the accused are not held in 72 hour period then roads of the entire district will be blocked and agitation will be expanded to the entire tribal belt. District BJP chief Bhuralal Shah meanwhile stated that Anant Patel had gone to meet someone and there was one to one tension between the two. The issue had nothing to do with politics or political parties or something like that. Anant Patel made big claims out of his personal clash with a person. The way he activated his social media and the way law and order situation was compromised, it clearly shows that Anant Patel tried to take political benefit out of a personal matter ahead of the election. He has done this in the past too. DeshGujarat