The face that Cong would prefer to Hyde

. A former state minister, now in the Congress, in his deposition before the Nanavati-Shah panel, praises the role of the police.
. A High Court senior lawyer, who owes allegiance to the Congress, appears for an accused in a riot case in Banaskantha district and bails him out.
. A Congress corporator, Chandrakant Shrivastava alias ‘Bhattu’, is accused of intimidating Best Bakery complainant Zahira Shaikh into turning hostile.
Ahmedabad: They have pledged their loyalty to the Congress.Yet, they have chosen to distance their political leanings from their profession and have become the faces the Congress might prefer to keep under a veil.
So, we have people who have contested elections on a Congress ticket condemning the NHRC action in the Best Bakery case or bailing out the accused in a post-Godhra riot case.
Congress leaders may cry themselves hoarse about the ruling BJP’s alleged role in perpetrating the riots and its apathy towards acquittals, but the minorities, who are a formidable votebank for the party, are fast losing faith in the Congress.
They claim that the party has done precious little for their interests. In a meeting held two months ago, some minority leaders in the Congress represented the issue before GPCC chief Shankersinh Vaghela.
Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation former standing committee chairman and lawyer, Badruddin Shaikh, admits, “The party’s role in securing Muslim victims has not been effective enough.�
In October this year, an offence was registered against VMC’s Congress corporator Chandrakant Shrivastava, alias Chandrakant Bhattu, for allegedly threatening Zahira Shaikh and her family into turning hostile in the Best Bakery case. Sources say that the Congress would have gone to town about the Supreme Court reprimanding the state government in the Bakery case, but for Bhattu’s alleged involvement which became embarrassing.
The party that swears by secularism, put its foot in its mouth earlier this year when maverick leader from Ahmedabad, Yatin Oza, as president of the Gujarat High Court Advocates Association, passed a resolution criticising the media and the NHRC for playing a “negative role� in the Best Bakery controversy. Oza later clarified that he was speaking in his capacity as a lawyer, and not as a Congress member.
Yet again, former minister and now Congress member Girish Parmar, in a deposition before the GT Nanavati and KG Shah commission of inquiry, praised the Gujarat police for doing a good job. When contacted, he said, “I only praised one particular officer, because he actually did a good job.�
Congress’ legal cell secretary Iqbal Shaikh sees no harm in politicians having different ethics in their roles as professionals and politicians. “Since I am a professional, I will fight a case for a riot accused and a Hindu if he approaches me.�