Gujarat Congress to seek special session of Assembly

The Opposition Congress said on Tuesday that it would seek a special one-day session of the Assembly to discuss issues related to Patidars, Dalits, OBCs, minorities, farmers, and youths.

Leader of Opposition Paresh Dhanani told reporters that a number of critical issues concerning different communities and sections had cropped up in the state in recent times.

"The state government has failed on all fronts. We will raise these issues on the floor of the House," Dhanani said.

War of words over 'Ma' continues

The war of words over Congress MLA Virji Thummar's alleged abuse of state BJP President Jitu Vaghani's mother continued on Tuesday, with Congress accusing BJP of raising the issue to divert attention from real issues, and BJP alleging that the Opposition was resorting to low-level politics.

At the Patidar Maha Panchayat in Surendranagar on Saturday, Thummar allegedly said that Vaghani's mother would not be a Patidar, or else Vaghani would not have used the word 'Pitthu' (agent) for Hardik Patel.

On Tuesday, Thummar clarified that his comment was not aimed at Vaghani's mother, but at the BJP chief for insulting Patidar community by calling it Congress's agent.

"The BJP only wants to use Patidars to win elections," he said.

Dhanani said the Maha Panchayat was to discuss issues related to Patidars, and while a dozen MLAs of Congress had attended, no BJP leader was there.

"BJP is raking up the controversy to hide its failures. BJP had promised withdrawal of 22,000 false cases against Patidars, but it is yet to fulfill this promise, and is resorting to name-calling the community," Dhanani added.

In his reaction, state BJP spokesperson IK Jadeja said that instead of apologising for the vulgar comment, Congress was shielding Thummar, and resorting to low-level politics.