Veteran Gujarat Congress MLA resigns, joins BJP
Gandhinagar, July 3 : Senior Gujarat Congress MLA and prominent Koli community leader Kunwarji Bawalia on Tuesday tendered his resignation as a legislator as well as from the party. He then reached the BJP's state headquarters "Shree Kamalam" and met the party's state President Jitu Vaghani and two other cabinet ministers.
Bawalia, a four-time MLA from Jasdan constituency in Rajkot district, handed over his papers to Gujarat Assembly Speaker Rajendra Trivedi.
Bawalia was elected to the Lok Sabha from Rajkot during the 2009 elections.
The Koli community leader, who has been sulking ever since the December 2017 elections for being ignored for any key party position, is likely to join the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and, sources believe, could be inducted into the Vijay Rupani cabinet.
His resignation comes days after another leader from Rajkot, former legislator Indranil Rajyaguru, quit alleging that the Congress leadership ignored the aspirations of several party seniors.
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Baramati plane crash: CID questions VSR Ventures owner
Pune (PTI): The Maharashtra Crime Investigation Department on Thursday questioned V K Singh, owner of VSR Ventures, which operated the aircraft involved in the Baramati crash that killed deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar, a CID officer said.
“The statement of V K Singh is being recorded,” said the CID officer, without disclosing more details about the questioning, which was still underway.
A Learjet 45 aircraft, operated by VSR Ventures, crashed near the Baramati air strip in Pune district on January 28, killing Pawar and four others.
After the plane crash, an accidental death report was registered at the Baramati Taluka police station, and the case was later transferred to the Pune CID. Earlier, the state agency had said that its focus was to ascertain if sabotage or criminal negligence led to the Baramati tragedy.
Days before V K Singh's questioning, the CID had sent a set of questions to VSR Ventures in connection with its investigation into the plane crash, according to a source.
NCP (SP) MLA Rohit Pawar had alleged on Wednesday that someone was trying to save VSR Ventures, and claimed that a preliminary probe by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) vindicated the doubts earlier raised by him.
In its 22-page preliminary report on the air tragedy, the AAIB said the visibility at the time of the crash was below the required level. It also flagged fading marks on the runway and the presence of loose gravel on the runway surface.
A few days ago, Ajit Pawar’s son Jay Pawar had shared a purported video on social media alleging that V K Singh's son Rohit Singh was seen dozing off in the chief pilot’s seat during a flight, and demanded his immediate arrest.
He had also demanded that all aircraft of VSR Ventures be grounded till the inquiry into his father’s plane crash is completed.
