'Shame on you, forget this area, you won't get votes': People in Surat take out buckets of black water against BJP leaders, including former standing chairman, 20 years of anger

The atmosphere of the local body elections in Gujarat is heating up and political parties have started campaigning among the people with the announcement of their candidates. Meanwhile, a scene has emerged that it is becoming challenging for BJP leaders in Surat to go among the public. Rajan Patel, a former standing committee chairman of the Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC) and a prominent BJP leader, had faced the wrath of locals when he went out for campaigning and public relations in his area (ward number 9) on April 5. Rs. The former chairman, who presented a budget of Rs 10,593 crore and made claims of development, was taken aback by the people over the issue of basic amenities. BJP leaders were questioned by locals Rajan Patel and his accompanying BJP workers were stopped by locals on their way to launch an election campaign in Rander Jhanda Chowk area of Rander village. The anger of the people was such that they surrounded the leaders from all sides. The locals asked directly, "Have you ever been seen here in all these years? Why did you come today when votes were needed?' People had said that road work had been pending in the area for a long time, but no one had come to care. When the leaders tried to console them, the people hit back, saying that we have been hearing such promises for the last 20 years. Protest with bucket of dirty water, former chairman watches The most violent form of protest was seen when local residents came in front of Rajan Patel with a bucket of dirty water in their hands. The bucket contained black coloured and extremely foul-smelling water, which is coming into the taps of the locals' homes. People showed this bucket of dirty water and asked the leaders, 'Is this water drinkable? You talk about crores of budgets but you can't even give us clean drinking water," he said. Rajan Patel presents multi-crore budget Rajan Patel has been the chairman of the standing committee of the Surat Municipal Corporation. During his tenure, he spent Rs. A development budget of Rs 10,593 crore has been approved. However, when the problem of basic amenities like roads and drinking water remained unresolved in his own constituency, he was cornered by the public. There was a feeling among the people that crores of rupees on paper failed to reach the homes of the common man. The women and the elderly said straight away - 'There will be no vote this time'. The protest was attended not only by the youth but also by a large number of women and the elderly. The women expressed outrage that diseases were spreading due to dirty water and the condition of roads was so bad that it was difficult to pass. The angry locals threatened in clear words, "Forget this area today, no one is going to vote from here." Also Read... Paikwad has been facing drainage problems for 20 years, threatens to boycott polls Sharp clashes between activists and locals When the anger of the public was growing, some BJP workers tried to defend themselves. When an activist asked the locals, "Why don't you make an official complaint about this?" people became more agitated and said, "We have complained countless times, but no one is listening. Meanwhile, when someone started recording the incident on his mobile phone, a BJP worker tried to stop him, on which the locals got angry and said, "Why don't we take the video?" Are you scared because your hole is being exposed?