Visnagar: The ongoing membership drive of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is making headlines in Gujarat. Just yesterday, a video of a BJP corporator in Bhavnagar went viral, showing him offering ₹500 for the enrollment of 100 members into the party. Now, another incident has come to light where an attempt was made to enroll a patient into the BJP while she was visiting the Visnagar Civil Hospital for an injection.

According to the details, one Prakashben Darbar visited Visnagar Civil Hospital to get an injection, where the hospital staff asked her to provide the OTP sent to her phone. Initially, the patient provided the OTP, but later her husband became suspicious about why it was being requested. Everything became clear when they received a message confirming BJP membership. Following this, the patient’s husband recorded a video of the incident and confronted the hospital staffer, who claimed he had taken the OTP by mistake.

Prakashben Darbar, originally from Iyasara village in Visnagar taluka, had been bitten by a dog and came to Visnagar Civil for an injection with her husband, Vikumbha. The worker asked for the OTP after requesting her mobile number before administering the injection.

Vikumbha Darbar, the patient’s husband, stated, “This morning, I went to Civil with my wife. Previously, OTP was never required for injections, but today, the first thing we were asked to do was to exchange coins with the registrar. After that, when we went for the injection, they asked for an OTP. When I inquired why they needed it, they said it was a civil rule and that it must have been a new procedure, so I provided the OTP. We were told the person was a staff member, but when I received the message about Bharatiya Janata Party membership, I questioned where the OTP for this civil matter was. It was clearly an OTP for BJP membership. The worker left without explanation, and I informed the hospital staff that this was against the law.”

He continued, “Later, I met with the RMO. When I informed him of this incident, he said he had no knowledge of it. The RMO asked me who this person was, and I said I didn’t know, but your staff claimed he belonged to the Bhai staff. After that, I called my brother, who apologized and said he didn’t realize he was asking for the OTP. My concern is that many people must have been asked for OTPs in this manner.”

He further stated, “My only demand is that if I don’t receive a satisfactory answer to this, I will write to the Health Minister.”

Visnagar Civil Superintendent Parul Patel commented, “No complaint has come to me regarding this matter. I realized what happened when I saw the video, and upon checking, I found that this employee is not permanent. There are no activities related to BJP membership here. The individual in question is not one of our permanent employees; he was recently hired by Nirav Agency. That person has since left, and agency personnel have been contacted. Further action will be taken after discussions with them.” DeshGujarat