Congress men fight before battle begins

AHMEDABAD: In an embarrassing turn of events, the Congress was forced to withdraw the mandate it had given to corporator and ex-mayor Himmatsinh Patel for Rakhial constituency, after suspended BJP leader Gordhan Zadafia, now with the Congress, insisted on fielding his candidate Dhiru Doodhwala from the constituency. On Wednesday morning, both Patel and Doodhwala had a mandate to contest from Rakhial.

Chaos and violence ensued at the collectorate on Wednesday when Patel and Doodhwala reached there simultaneously to file their nominations for the Rakhial assembly seat.

Patel's supporters attacked Doodhwala preventing him from entering the collectorate. Doodhwala came back with police support, which led to violent protests by Patel's group.

According to sources, Patel slapped DCP Brijesh Kumar Jha who was trying to control the violence. However, his son too received injuries in the scuffle and was admitted in a hospital.

Later, Patel relented after AICC in-charge BK Hariprasad called him up, and in fact went ahead and shook hands with Doodhwala.

A police complaint was filed against six people for violence. Three cops were also injured in the scuffle and two Congress workers were arrested. Patel's supporters also ransacked the GPCC office later in the evening. The party headquarters was attacked and furniture set on fire by around 15 men.