AHMEDABAD: The divide within the Gujarat BJP appears to be unresolved. One recent incident involved a disagreement between cricketer Ravindra Jadeja's wife Rivaba, who is an MLA, and the BJP mayor and MP from Jamnagar.
While MP Poonam Maadam stated that the incident was simply a misunderstanding, the mayor's family expressed their disapproval of Rivaba's behaviour and requested that she retract her comments about the mayor.
“Whatever happened to me, the way the MLA treated me, the way her body language was, my family was very disturbed, to some extent I was also disturbed," said Bina Kothari, the mayor of Jamnagar City, during a press conference on Saturday.
“My family is not involved in politics, but has been involved in national service from the 'Jana Sangh' era, and they communicated their pain to our BJP city president. My family believed that we came from a respected family and that if a lady in our family was treated this way, no woman would consider entering politics," she added.
“My family expressed their pain at MLA's words "to be in your limit," and my daughter-in-law expressed her pain at the tone in which the MLA spoke. All of these representations were made before the city president, and my family has asked the city president to convey our message to the state party leadership," Bina said.
During the 'Meri Mati-Mera Desh' programme organised by Jamnagar Municipal Corporation on Lakhota Lake in Jamnagar on Thursday, a political conflict within the BJP broke out. BJP MLA Rivaba had a heated discussion with MP Poonam Maadam and Mayor Bina Kothari. MLA Rivaba became angry and scolded the Mayor and MP, telling Mayor Bina Kothari to stay “within her limits”.
Following the incident, Jamnagar MP Poonamben Maadam held a press conference on Thursday night to defuse the uproar, clarifying, "There was definitely some misunderstanding," but the next day, the mayor's family reached the Jamnagar BJP headquarters to convey their displeasure. They complained again on Saturday.
After this, the mayor convened a press conference and stated, "Yes, there is displeasure in our family with the MLA's (Rivaba) behaviour."