Ex-IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt’s wife moves Gujarat HC for police protection
Ahmedabad, May 8: Sacked IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt's wife, who had contested against the then Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi in the 2012 Assembly elections on a Congress ticket, Wednesday approached the high court, seeking police protection.
Shweta Bhatt sought the Gujarat HC's direction to the respondents (the government) to provide her and her family with "armed police protection at the cost of the state", claiming there was a threat to her life.
Sanjiv Bhatt, is currently in judicial custody in a case of allegedly planting drugs to frame a person.
Justice Sonia Gokani, acting on her petition, issued notices to the Gujarat director general of police and the Ahmedabad Police commissioner and posted the matter for next hearing on May 10.
Security provided to Sanjiv Bhatt by the state government was withdrawn in July 2018.
Two months later on September 5, 2018, he was arrested in connection with the 1996 case of allegedly planting drugs to frame a person.
Sanjiv Bhatt had approached the Supreme Court after his security cover was withdrawn. The apex court, in turn, had directed him to approach the high court.
After his arrest, the "threat perception" against her and her family members has increased, she said in her petition.
Shweta Bhatt said her contesting the Assembly election against Modi had "enraged many".
She said certain incidents after the arrest of her husband has caused her to worry about the safety and security of herself and her family members.
Her car had met with an accident when a truck hit it in Ahmedabad. Unidentified persons were seen loitering around her house, and she was also followed by unknown people, she claimed in her petition.
Even Gujarat Police personnel follow her in plainclothes, making it hard for her to distinguish between police and unidentified persons, she claimed.
Shweta Bhatt said that a part of their house was demolished by the civic body recently and it has become vulnerable.
The demolished portion was deemed illegal by the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation.
Sanjiv Bhatt was suspended in 2011 on charges of remaining absent from duty without permission and misuse of official vehicle.
The Gujarat cadre IPS officer was eventually sacked by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs in August 2015.
He had crossed swords with Modi, the then chief minister, on several occasions over the 2002 post-Godhra riots.
Shweta Bhatt had unsuccessfully contested against Modi from the Maninagar Assembly constituency here in 2012.
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'Last rites' of INDIA bloc: BJP on Cong-DMK fallout in Tamil Nadu
New Delhi (PTI): The BJP on Wednesday took a swipe at the Congress for extending support to Vijay's TVK in forming the government in Tamil Nadu and breaking away from its long term ally DMK, saying the party has a history of "betraying" its allies.
The saffron party also attacked the opposition INDIA bloc, claiming the alliance is "falling apart like a pack of cards" and lacks any common ideology or vision.
The Tamil Nadu Congress has decided to support TVK leader Vijay in forming a secular government in the state, sources said.
The decision to support the TVK was taken at an urgent meeting of the Political Affairs Committee (PAC) of Tamil Nadu Congress late on Tuesday night.
Reacting to the development, BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla claimed the INDIA alliance had effectively come to an end after the declaration of assembly election results on May 4.
"There is nobody whom the Congress has not deceived. Imagine what they will do to the Samajwadi Party if they have done this to the DMK," he wrote in a post on X.
Calling it the "last rites" of the INDIA bloc, Poonawalla, in a video post, said, "It has become a Bharat free of the DMK, TMC and the Left, and now Congress has dumped the DMK for the TVK."
The BJP spokesperson alleged that the opposition bloc was formed solely out of political compulsions and personal ambitions.
"The INDI alliance never had any mission or vision. It was only about ambition for position, corruption, commission and obsession against Modi ji that they came together. But now it is all falling apart like a pack of cards," he said.
Questioning the unity of the opposition parties, Poonawalla said the alliance was absent in several states during the election.
"Where was the INDI alliance in Bengal, in Kerala, in Gujarat, in Punjab, in Delhi, in Haryana, in Karnataka? There is no INDI alliance," he said.
The DMK on Wednesday described the Congress move to extend support to TVK as a "backstab" by its long-time national ally.
Speaking to PTI videos, DMK spokesperson Saravanan Anadurai said, "The Congress party has decided to ally with the TVK, pledging their support to the party. I think they have backstabbed... They have backstabbed the people of Tamil Nadu. They've backstabbed the mandate given by the people of Tamil Nadu."
He said that the decision came even before the electoral process had fully concluded.
"Even before the ink on the returning officer's signature on the victory certificate dried up, they've chosen to go ahead with an alliance," he said.
Vijay's TVK won 108 seats in the 234-member Tamil Nadu Assembly, falling short of the halfway mark. He needs the support of 10 MLAs to form a government with a simple majority. The results were declared only on Monday.
The Congress has won five seats, while the Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) has bagged four seats. The CPI and CPI-M have two seats each. The outgoing ruling party, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), has won 59 seats while the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) has won 47 seats.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has won only one seat, and so have the Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK) and the Amma Makkal Munnettra Kazagam (AMMK), while the VCK has won two seats.
The Congress had fought the assembly polls in a pre-poll alliance with the DMK, while the BJP had a tie-up with the AIADMK.
