acrimonious

Gujarat Leader Of Opposition Suspended Over Statue Of Unity Comment

Paresh Dhanani's comments on the Statue of Unity were an insult to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, BJP said

Gandhinagar: 

Amidst acrimonious scenes in the Gujarat Assembly, the Speaker on Wednesday suspended Leader of Opposition Paresh Dhanani for a day for not apologising for his mention of scrap iron being used for the construction of the Statue of Unity (SoU).

Earlier, Speaker Rajendra Trivedi had to adjourn the House proceedings twice as heated exchanges continued between the opposition and treasury benches with the ruling BJP demanding an apology from Mr Dhanani.

The second sitting on Wednesday began with acrimonious scenes when Congress MLA from Mansa raised questions about the Statue of Unity, the expenditure on it and the tourism income from it. Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel started giving a detailed reply to the questions.

When he was speaking, Paresh Dhanani said that scrap iron collected from across the country was used in the making of the statue of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and that this was an insult to the Iron Man. Immediately after this, Mr Patel and thereafter all BJP legislators demanded an apology from him.

This led to a huge uproar forcing the Speaker to adjourn the House for 45 minutes. Noisy scenes were sparked off when the House re-assembled as the Speaker ruled after checking the video recording that Mr Dhanani had indeed said that the "Sardar was captured in Scrap Iron".

Mr Dhanani reiterated that the very same words 'Scrap Iron' were used in the official website of the Statue of Unity and wondered that the ruling party had an objection to its mention. But the BJP MLAs were in no mood to relent until Mr Dhanani apologised. The Speaker adjourned the House again.

As the House assembled again, Mr Patel moved a motion to suspend Mr Dhanani for the day, which was seconded by Education Minister Bhupendrasinh Chudasama. The Speaker then suspended Mr Dhanani even as the entire Opposition staged a walkout in the evening.

Later, Mr Dhanani told reporters: "When the government itself is mentioning 'scrap iron' being used for the statue in the official website, why there are double standards, when I mentioned it? Actually by using the 'scrap iron' for making a statue of the great man, the BJP has insulted Sardar."

Meanwhile, Nitin Patel persisted with his demand that Mr Dhanani should take back his words. "The Congress will have to face dire consequences if Dhanani doesn't take back his words, which is an insult to Sardar," Mr Patel said.

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Guj Dy CM dubs Mevani anti-national for opposing bullet train

Gandhinagar, Feb 19 (PTI) The Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train project was the focus of an acrimonious debate in the Gujarat Assembly Tuesday with deputy chief minister Nitin Patel dubbing Independent MLA Jignesh Mevani “anti-national” for opposing it.

The high speed rail project between Maharashtra and Gujarat’s biggest cities has been caught up in legal battles after several farmers along the route approached courts to stall land acquisition.

The verbal duel occurred when Patel was replying to a query by Congress MLA Akshay Patel on the project.

Mevani said, “Farmers of Gujarat and Maharashtra are against this project. They are not willing to give their land for it. I met such farmers in Maharashtra recently. If they are not willing, why you are snatching their land forcibly?” Patel said no project would see the light of day if the views of everyone were taken into account.

“There is no point listening to such anti-national and anti-development element,” he said, attacking Mevani.

The “anti-national” jibe evoked strong opposition from the Congress with several MLAs telling Patel that a person taking the side of farmers must not be tagged so.

A visibly upset Mevani walked to the Well of the House and said, “The real anti-nationals are those who have sold this country.”

Unfazed, Patel went on to compare Mevani’s stand on the bullet train project with that of social activist Medha Patkar who opposed the Sardar Sarovar Dam.

“Medha Patkar was against the Narmada (dam) project.

I want the Congress to clear its stand now. Are you of the opinion that she was right? Do you support her demand? If past chief ministers, including those from the Congress, had bowed to her demands, this dam could never have been completed,” Patel said.

“Now such dissidents have emerged in a new form. We cannot complete a project if we listen to such anti-national and anti-development elements. I want to ask the Congress if they support Mevani’s demand,” he said.

Addressing a press conference later, Patel attacked Mevani and termed him as a person having an “extremist” mindset.

“Mevani does not have any concern for Gujarat and its people. He is just trying to be a national leader,” he said.

“You (Mevani) support anti-nationals, Naxals and Maoists. I asked in the House if the Congress supports his demand but no MLA said they do. People of Gujarat do not agree with your extremist mindset,” Patel said.

This is published unedited from the PTI feed.