Govt treating Gujarat as its personal property: Congress

Welcoming the Gujarat High Court's quashing of the ordinance issued by the state to delay local body polls, senior Congress leader Shaktisinh Gohil slammed the BJP-led government for not taking into account interests of common people.
Gohil said the government treats Gujarat as its personal property and takes decision which are in clear violation of principles laid down in the Constitution.
"Gujarat government treats the state as its personal property. People have to go to the High Court for justice and seek protection against the government decisions. This government is not bothered about the interests of common people. They focus on protecting their own political interests," Gohil alleged during a press conference.

"People cannot expect any justice from this government and courts remain the only destination for justice," he said after the court verdict.
Gohil also came down heavily on the State Election Commission (SEC), which, he said was "not functioning in a fair and unbiased manner".
"SEC had ended up being a puppet of government since the last few years. Even some IAS officers, who act like government puppets, are not doing their job in a fair manner. Since the last 14 years, some IAS officers have started acting like political representatives of a party than government officers," Gohil, the MLA from Abdasa in Kutch, said.

According to him, the HC had instructed the SEC to follow constitutional norms and organise the polls on time.
"However, even after that directive from the court, the attitude of the SEC was not positive on this issue," Gohil alleged and added that the HC has observed that the condition in Gujarat is not such that holding elections is impossible.
In a setback to the Gujarat government, the High Court today quashed an ordinance issued by it to pave the way to delay local bodies polls, terming it as "unconstitutional", and directed the poll watchdog to conduct the elections before the expiry of their terms.