Guj HC orders no-confidence vote anew for Borsad civic chief

Anand, Mar 18 (UNI) With the Gujarat High Court ordering 'no-confidence' vote against the Borsad BJP president Kamlesh Patel alias 'Bihari' within seven days in a ruling last Friday, the district collector AV Joshi yesterday fixed March 21 as the D-day.

There will also be a poll to elect a new president for the civic body in case 'Bihari' loses the trust vote.

On March six, a no-confidence motion was moved by Kaushik Solanki and Ramesh Rabari, two of the 25 independents in the Borsad Nagarpallika, against 'Bihari'.

However, the district collector had then ordered the status quo be maintained in the Borsad Nagarpallika, 18 km from here.

BJP presently has 11 members. When the party lost the motion, Bihari had locked the main boardroom meeting hall and after a complaint by the independents to Nagarpallika chief officer Kirit Patel, the lock was broken the next day on March seven, to allow the 25 independents to enter the hall.

Bihari then complained to the Collecter AV Joshi who then on March seven, ordered status quo be maintained that prevailed before the no-trust motion was moved.

Against the decision of the Collector, Kaushikbhai and Ramesh bhai moved the Gujarat High Court contending that the action of the Collector was malafide as Kamleshbhai had lost the trust vote and was no longer the president. They also claimed full support of 23 other independents.

The court then accepted the contention of the petitioner and overruled the status quo. It also ordered that until a new president was elected the vice-president of Borsad Nagarpallika Aminuddin Malik would be incharge of the affairs of the Nagarpallika.

However, in a fresh development the high court ordered on last Friday that the drama of the trust vote be repeated and also a new president of the Borsad civic body also be elected to end the impasse.

UNI