Pandya faces people’s anger at Lok Darbar

Perform or perish was the message the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) got at the Lok Darbar held here on Sunday. There was no escaping the participants’ ire for Minister of State for Home Haren Pandya.

The Lok Darbar was held at Mithakhali Lions Hall to discuss problems of residents of Navra.ngpura ward. Speaking to the people, Pandya said, "Dump us certainly in the next elections if we are found lacking in our commitment, but go by your first-hand experience." However, there were few takers.

All three councillors were present along with Pandya. But Pandya managed the entire show and they had little to say. Anyway, at a place where issues like Madhavpura Bank, earthquake compensation and release of an NSUI leader dominated discussion, there was little scope for the councillors.

Madhavpura Bank depositors demanded urgent action to get their deposits before Diwali. They threatened to start an indefinite hunger strike if something was not done urgently. Pandya passed on the buck to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) as far as revival of the bank was concerned and to the CBI when asked about action against the guilty.

Earthquake survivors were angry that the authorities were not only sitting on the compensation but were also delaying granting permission to their building plans at the damaged hosue sites. Pandya cooled tempers by saying that meetings were going on with municipal and district collectorate authorities and the issue would be resolved soon. Shouting slogans would not help much in solving issues, be it the Madhavpura case or quake relief, he said.

Members of National Students Union of India, a frontal organisation of Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC), also barged in with banners demanding release of their leader Satish Patel. Pandya said Patel would not be released unless he was "reformed." He said there were a number of complaints of harassment of women against him and added that no antis-social element will be allowed to get away with pressure tactics.

Other "problems" ranged from delay in extradition of Dawood Ibrahim to Ram Temple to Haj subsidy to Madhavpura Bank crisis. Others like filth in Gulbai Tekra area, parking trouble around Regional Passport Office building, anti-socials extracting protection money, "harassment" of corn sellers by traffic cops and city bus service irregularities also cropped up during the marathon meeting, Meanwhile, the Gandhi-gram ward Youth Congress has ridiculed the Lok Darbar as the court of injustice. President Pramod Pandya said this must be the 100th such Lok Darbar, but not even those many problems had been resolved in this time.

Republished from The Indian Express