States: Gujarat: A Clean-Up Row

India Today, May 31, 1999
May 31, 1999

GUJARAT
A Clean-Up Row

Patel divests an 'upright' minister of his portfolio raising questions about values the BJP stands for.

By Uday Mahurkar

Patel is being accused of betraying a cause The trouble with cabinet expansions is that those inside dread it while those outside relish it. When Gujarat Chief Minister Keshubhai Patel reshuffled his ministry last week at least one minister, Jaspal Singh, who held the civil supplies portfolio, thought his position was secure. His relentless campaign against corruption-the plank on which the BJP rode to power in the state-and efforts to streamline the public-distribution system had earned him the reputation of being the "cleanest face" in a Government not otherwise known for probity. Thus it came as a rude surprise when the chief minister while inducting 11 new faces stripped Singh of his portfolio and gave him the low-profile charge of prisons. "I cannot figure out what I have been punished for," said a distraught Singh soon after the reshuffle.

Stripped: the move against Singh is being seen as a result of his campaign against adulteration Patel justified the move, saying it amounted to disciplinary action against Singh for "leaking negative stories" about the Government in the press. But there were few takers. Even as he made statements about "exercising his prerogative after consulting senior party leaders", he was accused of making a mockery of the BJP's pursuit of clean governance, that too at a time when general elections are round the corner.

In hindsight, Patel's action was not entirely unexpected. The oil millers of Saurashtra, most of them belonging to Patel's own caste, as well as those indulging in large-scale adulteration of petrol and diesel in the region had been gunning for Singh for some time now. Singh had made life miserable for them by taking stringent action. In one crackdown last year, Singh had raided the premises of a wealthy petrol pump owner in Ahmedabad, Rajniben Bhagat, and ordered that she be detained under the Prevention of Black Marketing and Maintenence of Essential Commodities Act (PBMA).

The PBMA is an intriguing law. Those violating it-by adulterating essential commodities or hoarding them-can be detained for six months subject to the clearance of an advisory board comprising three high court judges. But even after a detention is confirmed by the board, the Union Food Ministry can withdraw an order on appeal by the accused provided the accused is formally detained.

In fact, the Supreme Court has given an elaborate ruling in this connection, saying that "a person against whom a detention order has been passed must first submit to the authority and only then should his plea be heard" and that "no cognisance should be taken of any representation from a person who is absconding". The Union Law Commission's guidelines on the subject are also similar. But when the detention order against Bhagat was issued, she evaded detention by going into hiding for nine months, used her high political connections in the state as well as the Centre and somehow managed to get the order quashed by the Union Food Ministry.

Earlier too, Barnala had ordered the withdrawal of a detention order issued by Singh against four persons for groundnut oil adulteration. His ministry had acted similarly in five other cases wherein detention orders issued by the state Government and cleared by the advisory board were quashed. It was when Singh made the issue public by going to the press in the Bhagat case that Patel delivered the blow. "By punishing Singh, the chief minister has betrayed a cause and signalled that integrity no longer matters in the BJP," says a senior RSS worker. Echoes Pravinbhai Mistry, a small trader: "The BJP is clearly becoming the B team of the Congress."

The Singh issue apart, former chief minister and currently Industry Minister Suresh Mehta is distraught that his supporters have been ignored in the expansion. "There is a lack of fairplay in the whole exercise," he says. In a letter to Patel, he said the chief minister might as well divest him of the industry portfolio and give him a "lighter one that entails less public dealing". He also called for a meeting of the BJP Legislature Party to discuss the issue.

The appointment of nearly two dozen partymen, including MLAs, as chairmen and vice-chairmen of various state government undertakings has also ruffled feathers. Especially contentious is the posting of Pravin Kotak as chairman of the state Pavitra Yatradham Vikas (state Holy Places Development) Board. Kotak was known to be a middleman striking deals for BJP ministers. "The BJP Government stinks of corruption," says Amarsinh Chaudhary, leader of the Opposition in the Assembly. "The appointment of such people in key posts is adding to the stench."

Facing flak from all sides, Patel can only take consolation in the fact that the issue has not triggered a revolt in the party. "In a family, quarrels are inevitable," says Ranjendrasinh Rana, the state BJP chief. "But there is no possibility of a revolt. We will ensure that everybody comes around." That better happen before the elections. Otherwise, the state which is considered the BJP's strongest bet may well be lost to it.

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