Debate lands BJP in spot

In what is believed to be the first-ever public debate in the state between the ruling BJP and the opposition Congress, held at a local hotel here on Thursday, the BJP was hard put to prove its claim that a check dam was made every 12 hours in this border district after the BJP leader, Anant Dave, became the first chairperson of Sardar Jal Sanchay Samiti (SJSS).   

Dave had made this claim in a press release some time ago. This claim was contested by the former BJP leader and now a Congman, Narendrasinh Jadeja. To this, district BJP president, Tarachand Chheda, had said at a party workers meeting that he was ready to prove this claim. Accepting the challenge, Jadeja, in his reply, called for an open debate on the issue.  

At the public debate, Jadeja said that if the BJP had got two check dams built every day, then Kutch district should have 730 dams by now. Moreover, Jadeja claimed that the budgeted amount for check dams was far less than the amount said to have been spent. How did the BJP construct the dams without budget allocation, he asked. Jadeja also wanted to know whether soil tests were conducted for these check dams. 

Chheda, considered a firebrand leader of the BJP, was on the defensive. He said that 501 dams were complete and in existence. Skirting the issue of budget allocation, he said his figures were right. "Soil tests and designing and technical approvals must have been done," he said.

He also made a suggestion to form a committee which could verify the construction of 501 dams. The debate ended abruptly with Chheda leaving the meeting venue amid heated arguments between the supporters of the two leaders.