It seems that egotism is spawning from the ruling party who is taking pleasure in bullying majority in the state.
In two incidents, a local Rajkot BJP leader slapped a woman corporator many times and kicked her in the stomach, compelling her to get hospitalalised.
In another place in Ahmedabad, a group of the BJP’s student wing toughies rant and rave the Gujarat University building and thrashed a clerk.
It was a Thursday afternoon when former Rajkot BJP general secretary and also a municipal corporator Anil Rathod had a quarrel with woman councilor Jayshree Dodia, who belongs to the dissenter camp in the party in the Rajkot Municipal Corporation.
Late evening, Dodia was admitted to the government hospital and subsequently a police complaint was lodged about the incident.
“Me and Anil Rathod are corporators from the same (municipal) ward and he had for long been trying to browbeat me, expecting that I do everything as he wanted. He also created a faction leader image of me. I couldn’t take it any longer. So, when he provoked, I shouted back,” Dodia said.
“He then lost his cool and beat me up severely,” she added. When other party members rushed in to stop him, “he threatened me that he will finish my entire family.” Rathod admitted to the act by saying, “I had gone to the party office (in the municipal corporation) for some work where Jayshree was also present. Without a cause, she said ‘we dissidents would make it difficult for you and the party’. I could not tolerate her speaking nonsense against the party and so this happened.” On the other hand, he denied that he had intimidated the woman to kill her and her family.
A group of volunteers in another incident who are from the BJP’s student wing, Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, stormed into the Gujarat University building in Ahmedabad.
One of them went to the accounts section and told incharge cashier Rajesh Patel that the boss had sent for him.
When he came out, the ABVP toughies jeered and ill-treated him. They slapped him separately, claiming that Patel used to tease female students and Vice- Chancellor M. N. Patel did not pay attention to their complaints regarding it.
On Wednesday also, the ABVP toughies had a spat with the university Registrar demanding his resignation.
However, things came to a head- on late Thursday afternoon after the cashier was attacked. A dharna was staged by the entire university administrative staff outside the V- C’s office and went on a flash strike that continued on Friday.