‘Turncoats at top posts, BJP workers doing menial jobs’

Rajkot: Congress leader Paresh Dhanani set the tone for his campaigning for the Rajkot Lok Sabha seat by taking a dig at his party turncoats, alleging that the defectors who donned saffron were relishing important posts while the BJP’s own workers were still doing menial jobs.
“People who deserted the Congress or other opposition parties have been given top positions at the cost of BJP workers and functionaries, who were still cleaning the chairs for the turncoats to sit,” Dhanani quipped, at his first press conference after being nominated to contest from Rajkot.

He also accused the BJP candidate Parshottam Rupala of ‘deliberately’ making unsavoury remarks about Kshatriyas and said these were intentionally made to create a caste divide to reap political benefits. Without naming Rupala he alleged, “He was a teacher and it’s assumed he is a voracious reader with considerable knowledge. I don’t think he could commit this mistake (making adverse remarks about the Kshatriya community). It was not a mistake but an intentional act done to create a rift between castes and Rajkot was selected to execute this plan.”
Dhanani said this election is not a contest between him and Rupala or the BJP and the Congress but to ‘save the Constitution.’
Dhanani and Rupala, both natives of Amreli district, are locked in an electoral contest after 23 years. In 2002, Dhanani, then 26, had defeated Rupala in the assembly elections when Gujarat was swept by a strong Hindutva wave.
He also alleged that BJP leaders have used their power to empower themselves. “There is a recession in Gujarat, qualified youth are not getting jobs, small business and factories have closed down and government jobs are outsourced,” he alleged. Dhanani also criticized the tax system and alleged that the tax collected from the hard-working middle class is used to give benefits to a few rich people.
BJP spokesperson Raju Dhruv said "Dhanani should not be worried about BJP when his on party is on the verge of collapse. When the Congress's boat is sinking and people are leaving the party, he is worried about BJP."
On Dhanani’s comments on Rupala, Dhruv said, "By making such statements like Rupala's remarks were intentional, he is trying to create disharmony in the society.”