Teesta Setalvad has again been praised by the Congress party for facing charges of trying to dislodge the Gujarat government after the riots that broke out in the aftermath of the Godhra Hindu massacre and conspiring with mala fide conspiracy to implicate innocents, including the then Chief Minister Narendra Modi. The party’s working president and controversial leader Jignesh Mevani praised Teesta Setalvad at the Sadbhavana Sabha organized by the Congress in Ahmedabad.
Jignesh Mevani heaped praise on Teesta Setalvad and said, “I’d like to open up. I would also like to remember Teesta Setalvad along with Dr. Mukul Sinha. From a public platform, I salute the struggle that this woman fought to bring justice to the Muslims of Gujarat.”
તિસ્તા સેતલવાડને કોંગ્રેસના સલામ
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કોંગ્રેસના કાર્યક્રમમમાં તિસ્તાને સલામ
કોંગ્રેસના કાર્યકારી પ્રમુખે તિસ્તાને કરી સલામ
જિજ્ઞેશ મેવાણીએ જાહેર મંચ પરથી તિસ્તાને કરી સલામ#Ahmedabad pic.twitter.com/pDGo53wewK
Gujarat Congress working president Jignesh Mevani said this at a Congress event. Other senior party leaders including state president Jagdish Thakor and Arjun Modhwadia were also present in this program.
Congress state president Jagdish Thakor also made a controversial statement at the same event. He said, “Dr. Manmohan Singh said that minorities have the first right over the country’s resources, the Congress is still associated with that ideology. The former Prime Minister of this country (Manmohan Singh) used to say that minorities have the first right over the treasury of India. The Congress Prime Minister of this country spoke this loud and clear. The Congress also knows how much damage it caused to the party.”
There has been another revelation about Teesta Setalvad who was praised by Congress’ Jignesh Mevani. The Gujarat government opposed the bail pleas of Teesta Setalvad and RB Sreekumar and told the court that the accused had used Zakia Jafri, wife of former Congress MP Ahsan Jafri, to make false complaints against Narendra Modi and other leaders. The government told the court that Setalvad, Sanjiv Bhatt, and Sreekumar had used Zakia Jafri’s complaint for their political agenda and they were also helped by Congress leaders.
It is notable that the SIT investigating the case had filed an affidavit in the sessions court against the bail plea filed by Teesta Setalvad and RB Sreekumar and made several major revelations in the court. According to this, Teesta Setalvad and her gang received an amount of Rs. Thirty lakhs from Ahmed Patel, a former Congress leader and an advisor to Sonia Gandhi.
The affidavit quoted witnesses saying that Teesta Setalvad and Sanjiv Bhatt had secretly met at former Congress leader Ahmed Patel’s residence in Delhi after the riots. They used to meet on the pretext of raising funds for those affected by the riots. In the first meet, Teesta Setalvad received an amount of Rs 5 lakhs. The amount was delivered to Teesta Setalvad through a witness on the instructions of Ahmed Patel. Two days later, they met at the Circuit House at Shahibaug, where Teesta received another Rs 25 lakh from Ahmed Patel.
