An internal dispute within the Ahmedabad BJP has intensified after Shahpur ward corporator Jitendra Chauhan locked the office of an assistant city engineer, alleging that civic works in his area had not been completed despite repeated representations. The incident prompted the party’s city president, Prerak Shah, to summon all four Shahpur corporators for a discussion on discipline and pending development works.
The meeting was held at the party office in the presence of Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation’s ruling party leader Jashubhai Thakor and general secretary Umang Nayak. The corporator’s complaints were heard, while details were also sought from municipal officials, according to the report. The matter is expected to be discussed further at an internal coordination meeting of the party.
Chauhan carried out the lockout on the morning of October 9 near the Dudheswar water tank, where the Shahpur ward office is located. He alleged that sewerage, water supply and works to be funded through the corporator’s budget had not progressed despite repeated requests. He also warned that other offices could be locked in the coming days if the works were not taken up, and demanded the resignation of the municipal commissioner.
The dispute has produced differing accounts of the status of the works. Thakor said 28 of the 32 works suggested by Chauhan had been completed, leaving four pending. He said the corporator’s representation had been considered and that the issue would be examined further through the party’s coordination mechanism.
Deputy municipal commissioner Ramya Bhatt, however, said that two of the four works allocated under the corporator’s budget had been completed. She rejected the suggestion that officials were not listening to corporators or acting on their representations. Bhatt also said that meetings were regularly held with corporators and the local legislator.
The differing figures point to the administrative difficulty that can arise when elected representatives, municipal departments and political organisations track local works through separate channels. The available account does not establish whether the discrepancy concerns different sets of works, different stages of completion or differing definitions of what constitutes completion.
The episode is not the first instance of a lockout involving Ahmedabad BJP corporators or their family members. Similar incidents were previously reported involving the husband of a woman corporator from Paldi and a corporator from Asarwa. The Shahpur incident has therefore brought renewed attention to how complaints about ward-level civic works are handled within a municipal corporation governed by the same political party.
Chauhan was previously associated with the Congress and joined the BJP before being elected as a corporator. Thakor said Chauhan had come from another party but understood BJP discipline. The city party leadership’s decision to call all four Shahpur corporators indicates that the matter is being treated both as a local works dispute and as an internal organisational issue. Further discussion is scheduled through the party’s internal coordination meeting.
