Congress invokes Haren Pandya's “murder” while his cousin Sunita Williams returns to earth

The Kerala congress unit sparked a debate on social networks when he published: “Moda pale a letter to Sunita Williams, and, in all likelihood, she will put him in the trash. Why? She is the cousin of Haren Pandya … He challenged Modi and was murdered during a” morning march “.”

Haren Pandya: the bjp chief who challenged Modi

Haren Pandya was a faithful of the BJP and the Minister of the Interior of Gujarat, known for his solid RSS background and his political influence. He had been minister of the cabinet under Keshubhai Patel and continued in office when Narendra Modi took office as chief minister in 2001.

However, the tensions between Pandya and Modi began to degenerate in 2001, when Pandya refused to leave his seat of the Ellisbridge assembly for the electoral entry of Modi to the legislative assembly of Gujarat. This public challenge made him one of Modi's largest internal rivals within the BJP in Gujarat.

The biggest rift occurred in 2002, when Pandya would have provided confidential testimonies to an independent panel led by judge VR Krishna Iyer concerning the role of Modi in the 2002 Gujarat riots. According to a media section, Pandya alleged that Modi had asked the managers to allow Hindu crowds to freely retaliation after the Godhra train.

Following this deposit, Pandya would have been in the BJP. He was removed from his duties from the post of Minister of the Interior of Gujarat and denied a ticket to contest the elections in 2002. His political career has actually ended, and should be transferred to Delhi for a national BJP role – an offer he would have resisted. He was murdered for months later on March 26, 2003, shot down to Ahmedabad during his morning routine walk.

The controversial murder investigation

The central investigation office (CBI) initially linked the murder of Pandya to Islamic activists, saying that the agents of Lashkar-E-Taiba murdered it as an act of revenge for the 2002 riots. However, the investigation was widely criticized. In 2007, a first instance court of Gujarat sentenced 12 people, but the High Court of Gujarat annulled the convictions in 2011, calling for the “sloppy, poorly oriented and perverse” investigation.

The court criticized the police and the CBI for making evidence, declaring that the real authors remained unknown. In 2019, the Supreme Court restored convictions, rejecting calls to a new probe. Pandya’s father, Vitthal Pandya, has repeatedly accused Modi of orchestrating the murder of his son, declaring in interviews that “the real brains were protected”.

Sunita Williams, Haren Pandya and the selective recognition of Modi

The attack on Congress against Prime Minister Modi comes from an alleged scheme of political indifference towards Sunita Williams in 2007, despite his heritage Gujarati and her international fame.

Telegraph reports (June 21, 2007) noted that Williams had a deep personal link with Haren Pandya and that he had campaigned for him in 1998, even joining his victory procession. Despite Gujarat's tradition to celebrate the directors, the government of Modi ignored its achievements in 2007. The opposition to the Gujarat assembly proposed a resolution to honor Williams but the BJP of Modi remained silent. Vishwa Gujarati Samaj criticized Modi's government for not recognizing Williams, calling Modi “vindictive”.

On the other hand, in 2025, Modi suddenly praised Williams in a personal letter, calling him one of the illustrious girls of India. The congress has now hung this change of position, alleging that Prime Minister Modi recognizes it only for political perspective.

While the BJP rejects these affirmations as a political opportunism, the Haren Pandya affair continues to throw a shadow on Modi's management in Gujarat, and now on his relationship with Sunita Williams.