Gujarat is priceless, can never be bought: Rahul Gandhi attacks BJP on bribery charges

The fresh bribery allegations against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) by Patidar leaders in Gujarat has provided ammunition to the opposition to target the ruling party.

Attacking the BJP over the issue, Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi on Monday tweeted that the state of Gujarat “can never be bought”.

“Gujarat is priceless. It has never been bought. It can never be bought. It will never be bought,” tweeted Rahul Gandhi.

The Gandhi scion is slated to take part in 'Navsarjan Janadesh Mahasammelan' in Gandhinagar on Monday and is also expected to meet Patidar leader Hardik Patel, who has been on an offensive against the BJP government.

His attack comes after two Patidar leaders who had joined the BJP decided to part ways and alleged that the ruling party had offered to bribe them. One of the leaders, Narendra Patel, held a press conference wherein he alleged that the BJP had offered him Rs 1 crore. He even displayed Rs 10 lakh, allegedly given to him by one BJP leader, at the press meet.

Patel, who had last month lodged a police complaint against Hardik Patel and three supporters in Patan in North Gujarat and later withdrew it, told a press conference that Patidar leader Varun Patel who joined the BJP on Saturday evening took him to meet Gujarat BJP president Jitubhai Vaghani and other leaders on Sunday.

“Varun took me around in Gandhinagar and then took me to Shree Kamalam office of the BJP and introduced me to Jitubhai Vaghani and some ministers. He then took me to a room and handed over a bag of Rs 10 lakh cash as token and promised to pay me Rs 90 lakh tomorrow after a party function which I was required to attend,” Patel told a crowded a press conference late on Sunday.

“They made a deal of Rs 1 crore on me. One crore? Even if they bestow the entire Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on me, I will not be bought over. Even if I have to die, fighting for the cause,” Patel claimed.

The other Patidar leader, Nikhil Sawani, quit the BJP on Monday, just a few days after he joined it. Speaking to mediapersons, he said that the ruling party did not fulfil any of the promises made to him when he joined them.

"I resigned because they are just offering lollipop, fulfilling nothing," he alleged. Sawani also said that he was open to meeting Rahul Gandhi to discuss his ideas.

He also congratulated Narendra Patel for speaking against the BJP. "Heard about Rs 1 crore offer by BJP to Narendra Patel, I'm upset. I congratulate him. He comes from a small family but still he didn't choose Rs 1 crore," he said.

"I agree with Narendra Patel. Even I have heard a lot about money being offered to conveners & others," Sawani claimed.

(With agency inputs)