Like the Narmada waters in Gujarat, this man transcends political boundaries. In one way or the other, hehas helped three Chief Ministers and their political parties and while he has been rewarded in the first twocases, it remains to be seen what the reward this time around is.
He started with Shankersinh Vaghela in 1997, then the chief of the Rashtriya Janata Party he had formedafter staging a revolt in the BJP, continued with Keshubhai Patel and now it is the turn of NarendraModi.
Meet the BJP MLA from Waghodia in Vadodara, Madhubhai Babubhai Shrivastav (commonly known as MadhuSrivastav), who has been credited with "protecting witnesses" from anti-social elements, and keepingthem away from media, encouraging them to tell the "truth" (read: getting them to turnhostile') in the sensational Best Bakery incident where 14 people were burnt alive in the post-Godhraviolence.
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Tall, dark, tough, large moustaches pointing up over a full beard, gold rings in all his fingers and athick gold chain shining through a thick bush of chest-hair, dressed in white from top to bottom, he couldpass off as a quintessential caricature depicted in Hindi films: of a 'Bhai'-turned-politician.
Madhu Srivastav was a well-known bootlegger and anti-social in Vadodara and later developed interests inreal estate, which in simpler terms could be called land-grabbing. He was arrested under Prevention ofAnti-Social Activities (PASA) Act for his involvement in communal riots in 1985, where he was charged withinspiring a shoot-out on local goon-cum-municipal corporator Shailesh Sotta which the police could not prove.
Srivastav was elected as an Independent legislator from Waghodia constituency in 1995, and later helpedShankersinh Vaghela in unseating the Suresh Mehta Government. He had played a crucial role in the unsavouryproceedings in the violence-rocked Assembly that ultimately led to the fall of Chief Minister Suresh Mehta,who had replaced Keshubhai Patel as a compromise candidate. Srivastav informally headed a group of 10Independent MLAs and helped rebels re-group under the Vaghela-led RJP and form government.
This is one help he did to Vaghela for which he got rewarded.
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The Vaghela regime had agreed to release 14,267 square metres of prime land worth over Rs.20 crorebelonging to the government's Vaccine Institute on the posh Old Padra Road. The land had been acquired fromfarmers a couple of decades ago under the Urban Land Ceiling Act for the Vaccine Institute. The governmentagreed to sell the land back to the farmers, whose power of attorney was held by a close associate of MadhuSrivastav.
But the government could not implement this decision because of a public interest litigation filed in theGujarat High Court by senior BJP leader Nalin Bhatt, then the chairman of the Gujarat Electricity Board. Whilethis litigation was pending, the Congress pulled down the Vaghela government and later fresh elections wereordered in 1998. Just before the elections, the same Srivastav was admitted into the BJP and given a ticketfrom Waghodia, and this was done basically to use his influence for the party's Lok Sabha candidate.
The same BJP, which had filed a public interest litigation against release of the land tacitly in favour ofSrivastav, withdrew the petition. A deal seemed to have been struck. The BJP Government was to release thatland after it came to power in 1998. In brief, the process to release a piece of land for Srivastav wasstarted by Vaghela in return for the fall of a BJP Government, and furthered again by a BJP Government led byKeshubhai Patel.
A decision challenged by the BJP in the highest court of the State was ratified by its own government. (It isanother matter that the land has still not been passed on, thanks to the hue and cry raised by former ministerJaspal Singh, also from Vadodara, that time.) It speaks for the man's clout, which, it is obvious, goes muchbeyond winning one Lok Sabha seat and one Assembly seat for the BJP in Vadodara.
The Best Bakery is an important off-shoot of the BJP keeping Srivastav in good humour, or perhaps the otherway around. Inside accounts say that with the land deal not having come through so far, nor his nameconsidered for ministership or even a board or corporationchairmanship, his endeavours on behalf of the accused - and the witnesses - in the Best Bakerycase are targeted to curry favour with the Chief Minister.
Watch this space for what the party with a difference rewards him with.
