Gujarat BJP chief Jitu Vaghani today asked the opposition Congress in the Assembly to explain how it proposed to grant reservations to the agitating Patidar (Patel) community within the Constitutional framework.
He also accused the Congress of inciting the community, which led to a hot exchange of words in the house.
Speaking on the motion to thank the Governor O P Kohli for his address, Vaghani, BJP MLA from Bhavnagar, challenged Congress to show a legitimate way to provide reservations.
"Congress is only trying to incite various communities by giving false promise of reservations. I want to ask them, are we in the position to do so under the current provisions of Constitution?
"It is very easy to incite people for political gains. Instead, Congress should inform the people which community can be given the reservations and how," Vaghani said.
In response, senior Congress MLA Raghavji Patel accused the BJP government of committing atrocities on the Patel agitators.
"This government fired bullets on them and beat them up. Hardik Patel (quota agitation leader) was wrongfully arrested on sedition charges. Patel community will give a fitting reply to BJP in days to come," said Raghavji Patel.
Amit Chavda, another Congress MLA, accused Vaghani of using certain derogatory words for Patels and other communities in a speech delivered in the Anand district.
The Speaker Shambhuji Thakor expunged the words quoted by Chavda, while Vaghani challenged him to prove the charge.
"I never said anything like that at any of my rallies. I will quit the public life if those charges are proved. Otherwise Chavda must tender apology," said Vaghani.
Following this, Congress and BJP MLAs engaged in a verbal spat, forcing the Speaker to adjourn the house for 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, Hardik Patel asked the government to make its intentions clear. "Vaghani said how a community can be given the reservations....Gujarat Government has granted reservations under OBC quota to many communities. So why they are denying it to Patels?" he said in a statement.
"Government should give a proposal to the OBC commission for a survey of the Patel community. Government just needs to make that proposal. Everything else will be taken care of by the commission," he added.
