The Congress on Friday demanded a judicial inquiry into the alleged suicide of Dadra and Nagar Haveli MP Mohan Delkar in Mumbai earlier this week and asked why the Centre had not acted when he repeatedly raised the issue of "harassment" by the Union Territory's administrator. The Opposition party said that the seven-time MP, who was found dead in a hotel room, had named the administrator, Praful Khoda Patel, and other officials of the Union Territory in his purported suicide note.

In a press conference, Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera said that Delkar had in the past written letters to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and other senior leaders, flagging the "harassment" he was facing at the hands of the administrator and other officials of Dadra and Nagra Haveli. 

"He (Delkar) had enumerated the manner in which he was being humiliated and harassed ever since he won the Lok Sabha elections in 2019 as an independent candidate," Khera said. "This is a set template of the government in power (at the Centre). If you lose elections, you try and harass, you try and intimidate through agencies, governors, lieutenant governors and administrators. They try and browbeat the person, try and control him or her. If they agree with you (government), make them join you, if not then these are the tragic results," Khera alleged.

The Congress spokesperson also said Patel had been a BJP MLA and a minister in Gujarat, and claimed that he had close links with the top BJP leadership. The Congress demands that Patel be immediately relieved of his duties and cases be filed against him for murder and abetment to suicide, Khera said. There should be an immediate judicial inquiry into the entire matter so that Delkar can get justice at least after his death, he added.

The body of Delkar (58), an Independent MP, was found hanging from a ceiling fan in his hotel room in the Marine Drive area of south Mumbai on Monday. Besides being a seven-term Lok Sabha member from the union territory, he was also a member of the Standing Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances, Law and Justice and the Consultative Committee, Ministry of Home Affairs, of the Lower House. 

Here are the highlights of Pawan Khera’s media interaction:

In the past too, Member of Parliament of 7 terms, Shri Mohan Delkar had written letters to the Prime Minister of India, to the Home Minister of India and to other Union Ministers and senior Leaders drawing their attention to the kind of harassment he was facing at the hands of the Administrator and the other officers of Dadra and Nagar Haveli. 

Through videos, which we are sharing with you he enumerated the manner in which he was being humiliated, harassed ever since he won the 2019 Lok Sabha elections as an independent candidate. Now, this is a sad template of the Government in power, of the regime in power, if you lose elections, you try and harass, try and intimidate through agencies, through Governors, Lieutenant Governors, Administrators, through CBI, ED, IT, you intimidate people, try and brow beat them, try and control them. If they agree with you, they join you, they get a clean chit. If they don’t agree with you, here are the tragic results.

Mr. Praful Khoda Patel, let’s talk about him a little. He was a BJP MLA from Himmat Nagar, when Mr. Amit Shah, as Home Minister of Gujarat in 2010 had to demit office, because of criminal cases against him. Mr. Narendra Modi, as Chief Minister of Gujarat, appointed Praful Khoda Patel as MOS home in Gujarat, this was in 2010.Subsequently, of course, Mr. Praful Khoda Patel lost his elections, Mr. Modi became the Prime Minister of India and in 2016 Mr. Praful Khoda

Patel was appointed as the Administrator of Daman and Diu and Dadra and Nagar Haveli. What are the compulsions that Mr. Narendra Modi does not pay attention, does not act on letters written by a 7 term MP against this Administrator called Praful Khoda Patel?

After all, what is it that Mr. Praful Khoda Patel knows about the then Gujarat Government that he is so important, more important than a 7 term MP, a tribal leader, who keeps writing letters to you, who has spoken out in the Parliament against the Administrator and the Officers, why was he ignored, why were his complaints ignored?

This tribal leader, Shri Mohan Delkar faced a series of harassments, his own medical college and by the way, he donated the part of the land of that Medical college to a college, which is named after Namo, he donated that land, then they brought bulldozers to demolish his own medical college.

They tried to demolish the ‘Adiwasi Kalyan Bhawan’, which he had constructed. They tried to remove his people from jobs, he was fighting for them during Corona. He was not allowed to work with his own people, for his own people and they kept humiliating him at every given opportunity. 

Well, we hope the Prime Minister of India will bring justice posthumously for Shri Mohanbhai Delkar. We hope that the Prime Minister will rise above whatever compulsions he may have had in not taking any action against Praful Khoda Patel. We hope he will now act.

We demand the immediate dismissal of the Administrator of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, Mr. Praful Khoda Patel. We demand lodging of cases against him on charges of murder and abetment to suicide based on the suicide note, the said suicide note which was recovered along with the body of Mr. Mohanbhai Delkar.

Mr. Prime Minister, you could not give justice to this 7 term MP. Imagine, what would be the kind of fear that would generate in the minds of a common ordinary Indian. If an MP has to face this fate under your regime, what would the common men and women in India go through? We demand the Prime Minister to act immediately so that posthumously justice is given to Mr. Mohanbhai Delkar.

On a question about suicide of Mr. Mohanbhai Delkar, Shri Pawan Khera said- There is nothing indicative. There is no charge, what we are seeing is the fact that he wrote letters to the Prime Minister and the Home Minister of India. We saw in the video, he raised this issue even in the Parliament, yet all his letters were merely acknowledged, not even responded to, no action was taken, why? 

After all an MP, a 7 term MP is writing letters to the Prime Minister and Home Minister and those letters go unattended. Those complaints of a serious nature go unattended, what is the reason of this silence, what is the reason of this inaction; I leave it to your viewers.

On another question over what is Congress Party’s demand, Shri Pawan Khera said- We are demanding a judicial inquiry. We are demanding immediate dismissal of the Administrator of Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Mr. Praful Khoda Patel, who is extremely close to Shri Narendra Modi, who is extremely close to Mr Amit Shah.

I spoke to his son yesterday and they are very, very keen that all of you take up this issue and bring some kind of a pressure on this Government, so that his late father gets justice, at least after death.