Gujarat polls 2022: MLA Bhavesh Katara quits, family’s silence confuses many

VADODARA: Even as the state is poised on the threshold of assembly polls, the conspicuous absence of one of the most talked-about political families in Dahod district, the Katara family headed by former Dahod MP Babu Katara, from public domain had left many confused.
Even as speculations were rife, son Bhavesh, a Congress MLA from Jhalod resigned from the party late on Wednesday night. Earlier, the Congress did not give Bhavesh a ticket this time.
Senior Katara was a giant killer who humbled Congress strongman Somji Damor on the Dahod Lok Sabha seat in 1999 and again Dr Prabha Taviyad in 2004.
However, his fortunes nosedived when his name cropped up as an accused in a human trafficking case in 2007. He never got to contest any elections thereafter and was eventually suspended from the BJP in 2017. His son Bhavesh had contested for the Jhalod assembly seat on Congress ticket.
Another major row hit the family when the leader’s second son Amit was named as an accused in the murder of BJP leader Hiren Patel, a Jhalod municipality corporator who was killed in September 2020. Probe into the case revealed Amit’s involvement and he was arrested in January 2021.
Amit’s wife was a former president of the Dahod municipality. Babu and others had then alleged that Amit was being framed in the case due to political reasons.
While the family shunned the limelight for quite some time, it was expected that the impending elections will see them back in action. However, their activities have belied all such expectations and the reason many cite is Amit’s involvement in the murder case.
Again, some others claim that the family is focussing on the temple they are building in Jhalod and are keeping away from politics till that work gets completed.
Babu Katara even ducked a query about his and Bhavesh’s stark absence in public events. “The work of the temple too is a public event,” parried the veteran leader , adding that he isn’t avoiding public life, but that he is busy with the temple work. “Even today, I am going for an event to unfurl a ‘dhwaja’ on the temple,” he added.