Congress turncoats in Ahmedabad District Panchayat helped BJP come to power in the civic body elections for the post of president and vice-president, which was held on Tuesday. Six Congress dissidents voted against the party. All these six blamed party district presidents and Radhanpur Congress MLA Alpesh Thakor's father Khodaji Thakor for this.
Congress has 18 elected members, while BJP has only 13, out of a total 33 in the Ahmedabad district Panchayat. A tug of war between the two factions in Congress became apparent and the split widened during this election. Congress could hardly manage to appoint a member for the position of president and vice-president after the last elections.
Ahmedabad Congress president Khodaji gave the mandate to the members of his choice, which was opposed by the six other members. The party had taken all the 18 members to a resort in Udaipur to prevent them from defecting. They were brought back on Monday. The six dissident members, however, went against the party mandate during the elections.
Dissident Congress member Manuji Thakor said, "Khodaji did this to help BJP win, as he and his son share a good rapport with many BJP state leaders. He manages to receive many government contracts through this nexus, so Khodaji paid them back this way."
"Khodaji promised a mandate for the post of the civic body president to all six of us, which we realised only in Udaipur when we engaged in a conversation. He also asked all 18 members to bear all the expenses our the Udaipur stay, which was, in fact, his responsibility, as he got the amount compensated by the high command," Manuji added.
Khodaji could not be reached for a response. The Congress leaders blamed Manuji and five others for accepting huge bribes from BJP for defecting.
MEANWHILE...
Four Congress members, who had gone against the party in Padra Taluka Panchayat, bringing BJP to power in the last term, returned to the party and voted for Congress candidates. The same kind of equation was seen in Dehgam Taluka Panchayat when three dissidents from Congress did a ghar vapsi, but their votes were kept in a sealed cover as per court order and the announcement of results was suspended by the election official.
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