Congress calls for Gujarat bandh tomorrow

The Congress has called a bandh on Friday. This comes in the wake of resignation of suspended IPS officer DG Vanzara and the release of a CD on the Tulsiram Prajapati fake encounter case by a freelance journalist.

The party has appealed to all like-minded parties and organisations as well as the people to observe bandh in the state not for political reasons but to save the honour of Gujarat.

The Congress alleged that the law and order situation had collapsed and the state was in the grip of a constitutional emergency. “We have requested the governor to impose President’s Rule on the state. As this is the time for people to react, we have given a bandh call on Friday,” said Arjun Modhwadia, president of the Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC), on Wednesday.

Since the 2007 Assembly election debacle, mainly due to the Maut Ka Saudagar used for chief minister Narendra Modi, the Congress leaders used it once again. “This government has proved to be the Maut Ka Saudagar in the truest sense,” said Shankersinh Vaghela, leader of the opposition in the assembly.

Also, taking a dig at Modi for misleading people about the misuse of CBI, the Congress leaders said Vanzara and 29 other police officials were arrested by the CID crime branch and CBI was just exploring the possibilities of a larger conspiracy behind the fake encounters.

The Congress claimed that the Planning Commission has warned the state government as the latter was not in a position to pay interest on the debt taken so far.

“The bandh will be non-violent and the state government will be responsible for any consequence of police atrocities on the people,” said Vaghela.