AHMEDABAD: The BJP's carefully maintained image of internal discipline has come under strain in Gujarat's Surat after an organisational dispute inside the office of Surat-North MLA Kanti Balar escalated into a physical confrontation, exposing simmering differences among local leaders.
The incident occurred during a meeting convened by MLA Kanti Balar to discuss pending representations and grievances linked to the proposed demolition of Bhatni Wadi Society in Ward No. 5, covering the Phulpada-Ashwini Kumar area.
Local BJP leaders and corporators attended the meeting, but once the issue-based presentations were over, the discussion reportedly shifted from civic problems to an internal battle over political access, representation and alleged discrimination.
According to Manhar Vora, husband of BJP corporator Jayshree Vora, he was called inside after the society-related discussion had concluded.
During the subsequent exchange, TP Committee Chairman Mahendra Desai allegedly presented his views on demolition action against industrial establishments in the Katargam and Varachha areas, particularly those associated with Saurashtra residents and Patidars.
Vora alleged that party workers and local residents reminded Desai of the support and groundwork undertaken for the BJP during elections, but the discussion quickly became confrontational. He claimed Desai refused to reconsider his position and allegedly remarked, “I will not take back what I have spat on.”
The exchange then moved beyond policy and civic administration, with questions being raised about the future of traders and industrialists if business establishments in industrial areas were targeted.
According to Vora, the argument between him and Desai subsequently turned into a physical altercation.
Desai allegedly picked up a chair and struck on vora, following which Jayshree Vora and Manhar Vora sustained injuries, including fractures to their hands and fingers.
The incident has since triggered competing versions from those present.
Manhar Vora alleged that he attempted to approach the police twice by calling the emergency number 100 after the confrontation. He further claimed that MLA Kanti Balar sought to prevent the matter from escalating into a police case, arguing that such an incident could damage the reputation of his office and the party.
Vora subsequently consulted senior state BJP leaders and was advised to pursue the matter through the organisational channel rather than immediately turning it into a public confrontation. Following that advice, he submitted a detailed written representation on the incident and the allegations through the official letterhead of his wife, corporator Jayshree Vora.
The representation was emailed to Gujarat BJP president Jagdish Panchal, state general secretary Prashant Korat, Ratnakar and other senior city-level party leaders, seeking appropriate organisational action.
The political significance of the episode lies beyond the alleged physical clash. The confrontation has brought to the surface questions over factional equations within Surat BJP, access to senior leaders, ward-level influence and competing claims over civic development and demolition-related decisions.
TP Committee Chairman Mahendra Desai, however, rejected the allegation that he assaulted anyone. Speaking to local media, Desai described the episode as an ordinary argument that escalated briefly. “I did not beat anyone. It was a normal dispute between us. Just as disagreements and arguments can happen between members of a family, there was an argument between us as well,” Desai said, denying that he deliberately attacked the woman corporator or her husband.
MLA Kanti Balar also maintained that the incident began with an argument between Desai and Manhar Vora rather than a targeted attack on the woman corporator. “After a heated argument between Mahendra Desai and Manhar Vora, the two came face to face and a scuffle broke out. When the situation deteriorated, I, along with Jayshree Vora, Vikrambhai and Swatiben Patel, intervened and separated them,” Balar said.
Rejecting allegations that the woman corporator was specifically attacked, Balar added, “No one raised a hand on the female corporator or beat her. If something happened while we were trying to separate the two, that is a different matter. But the allegation that she was specifically targeted and beaten is completely wrong.”
The episode is particularly significant because Surat remains one of the BJP’s strongest urban political strongholds in Gujarat, making open factional clashes among elected representatives and influential civic leaders politically sensitive.