The editor of a Rajkot-based Gujarati eveninger, “Saurashtra Headlines”, was on Friday arrested allegedly for a story stating that the BJP’s central leadership is unhappy over the performance of Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel and considering to replace him.
Sending shock waves in the Gujarat media over this move, which obviously could not be without the nod of the State Government, the police picked up Aniruddh Nakum from his office and whisked him away to the police station.
The arrest sparked off huge protests from the media in Rajkot and the Saurashtra region. A massive procession was carried out by the local journalists, asserting that journalists couldn’t be victimised for speculative political stories which is quite common especially when elections are round the corner.
Referring to Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel divesting two cabinet ministers of key portfolios on the directions of the party’s central leadership recently, Nakum’s story with the headline, "Good Bye Bhupendraji, Welcome Rupala," claims to quote sources that this is just the trailer.
The story says that in the desperation to win 150 out of 182 assembly seats to break former Congress chief minister, the late Madhavsinh S0lanki’s record of 149 seats, the BJP’s central leadership may even drop Chief Minister Patel after Dussehra with over two months to go for the December polls.
In his bylined report three days ago, Nakum wrote that the BJP high command might pick Union Minister Purshottam Rupala or Mansukh Mandaviya, both Patidar leaders from Saurashtra, to strengthen its hold on the key Saurashtra region which sends maximum 48 MLAs to the State Assembly. The story quoted sources to claim that Rupala, a Leuva Patidar leader from the Saurashtra region with a rustic rural touch, might be the final choice.
Jagdish Mehta, who heads the newspaper, said, “We are not the only ones who have done this story. Several other papers have done it though it may not be as direct as we did.”
