On December 5, Gujarat Police refuted the claims of Congress leader Kantibhai Kharadi that he was attacked and abducted. The Congress party had accused Bharatiya Janata Party of attacking and abducting its candidate for Danta Assembly.
ગાંધીનગર સચિવાલય થી રાત્રે 2 વાગે
— Jagdish Thakor (@jagdishthakormp) December 4, 2022
દાંતા ધારાસભ્ય કાંતિભાઈ ખરાડી મુદ્દે pic.twitter.com/oUYvLb9xX7
As per the reports, on the night of December 5, a missing person report was filed claiming Congress’s Danta candidate Kanti Kharadi has been abducted. The Congress party accused BJP and claimed that it was BJP who attacked and abducted their candidate. The matter reached the police and Range IG JR Morthalia reached the spot with the police force. After searching for around four hours, the Congress leader was found safe in the forest.
Police said Kharadi himself denied claims of assault and abduction
In a statement, the Additional Chief Electoral Officer of Gujarat Kuldeep Arya, said, “A delegation presented the matter in front of the CEO at around midnight on December 4. Chief Electoral Officer P Bharti immediately instructed the Superintendent of Police of Banaskantha district to investigate the matter and submit a report.”
દાંતાના કોંગ્રેસ ઉમેદવાર કાંતિભાઈ ખરાડી પર કોઈ જ હુમલો થયો નથી કે તેમનું અપહરણ પણ થયું નથી: જિલ્લા પોલીસhttps://t.co/EjtdtbgGJv
— દેશગુજરાત ગુજરાતી (@DeshGujaratG) December 5, 2022
He further added, “Banaskantha police officials immediately met Kantibhai Kharadi. There was no attack on him. He told the police that nothing had happened to him. Even after a request from the police, he said there was no need to file any complaint.”
Congress candidate from Tharad claimed he was attacked
As per reports, Congress leader Gulab Singh Rajput from Tharad also claimed that he was attacked and accused BJP of the same. He claimed that the attack happened late at night in Tharad. After the allegations levels by the Congress leader, the situation in Tharad became tense. The police force was deployed to pacify the situation. After the incident, Gulab Singh went live on Facebook and narrated the incident that he claimed had happened. The political atmosphere in the area got more heated following his Facebook live.
Gujarat Assembly Elections 2022
On December 5, the second and final phase of voting for the Gujarat Assembly election took place. The first phase took place on December 1. The results will be announced on December 8.