Senior BJP leader Pradipsinh Vaghela, who has resigned as the party's general secretary in Gujarat, on Sunday said quit the post as he wanted to come clean after concerted attempts were made to tarnish his image for the last two years. Vaghela's resignation came days after three persons were arrested for allegedly circulating a "defamatory" letter against Gujarat Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief and Member of Parliament CR Paatil.
A state BJP leader on Saturday said Vaghela, one of the four general secretaries of the ruling party, resigned from the post due to personal reasons and his resignation was accepted by the party. BJP's Vadodara city general secretary Sunil Solanki on Saturday said he has also resigned from his post due to "personal reasons".
Talking to PTI, Vaghela, who held the post of general secretary since 2016, claimed some people were spreading wrong information about him with the intention to tarnish his image. Two such persons are behind bars and others are likely to be arrested soon, he said, without giving more details.
"They specifically targeted me for a reason which is not clear. I will file a complaint against them if the party directs me to do so. I resigned because I wanted everything to become clear and ensure the probe into the allegations is carried out impartially," he said. Vaghela claimed the racket was going on for the last two years wherein these people would collect wrong information and circulate it to targeted recipients.
It would happen just before an important event such as Parliament and assembly elections, he said. Vaghela said he became alert when a similar attempt was made just ahead of the recently concluded Rajya Sabha election and managed to identify a couple of persons who turned out to be the same persons who were behind such attempts earlier.
Some of these persons are non-BJP members and some are government officers, he claimed. Vaghela said the persons who have targeted him are not those arrested for circulating the "defamatory" letter against state BJP chief Paatil. The Surat police on Wednesday arrested three persons for allegedly circulating the "defamatory" letter containing accusations against Paatil, officials earlier said.
The accused allegedly sent the letter and pen drives containing 'supporting' material to several BJP MLAs, MPs and party leaders more than a month ago, they said. In a similar case, police in Vadodara arrested BJP leader Alpesh Limbachiya late last month for allegedly circulating a 'pamphlet' anonymously containing allegations of corruption against city mayor Nilesh Rathod.
Meanwhile, BJP's Vadodara city general secretary Sunil Solanki told reporters on Saturday that he has resigned from the post on 'personal grounds'. "I requested BJP city president Vijay Shah on July 29 to relieve me as the general secretary of Vadodara city unit and he said he will have to talk to state BJP president Paatil. Yesterday he said it has been accepted. I will continue to work as a party worker," former mayor Solanki said.
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