Evening Pulse: Politics goes quiet after Gandhinagar as a drain, clinics and a port test Gujarat

A day after the BJP's Gandhinagar sweep became a national argument, Gujarat's politicians went quiet. Since this morning there has been no mayor, no Congress reply to Amit Shah and no answer to Mukesh Rathwa. The day's news came from the machinery of the state instead: a drain that still has not given back a child, clinics that allegedly ran unchecked for decades, and a port route used to slip a banned import past customs. Each one raises the question this morning's Pulse ended on: who checks the system when politics is busy celebrating?

First, the loops. By this evening we had found no report naming Gandhinagar's mayor or setting a date for the new board's first meeting. We also found no formal reply from the Gujarat Congress to Shah's charge that the party has not won an election in the state for 41 years, and no statement from AAP on its slide to about 4 percent of the vote. Rathwa's remarks in Chhota Udepur, where he said opponents would not be allowed out of their homes in 2027, drew no public response from AAP or the BJP in any report we found. We also saw no new report of police action on the FIRs against Vadgam MLA Jignesh Mevani.

In Ahmedabad, the search for the visually impaired ten-year-old who fell into an open drain near Pirana on Saturday entered its fifth day with no trace of her. Sandesh reported that fire brigade teams with boats, divers and oxygen kits are now working along the drainage line from the spot where she fell all the way to the Sabarmati. The water is so thick with chemicals that visibility is close to zero. Gujarat Samachar had earlier reported that methane and industrial sludge were slowing the rescue. Sandesh described residents and the family as angry about how slowly the response has moved. We found no report of an inquiry ordered by the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation or the state.

In Surat, fuller accounts of Tuesday's Pandesara raids appeared during the day. ETV Bharat and Loktej reported that the Special Operations Group sent decoy patients before the raids, after a tip-off that clinics were treating poor labourers between 8 and 11 am. Sixteen people were arrested. Both outlets said at least three of them had been caught before: one in 2002, one in 2008 and one by the SOG earlier. ETV Bharat reported that some of the accused came from Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal and had worked as compounders or helpers in hospitals at home. The district health office will act separately against the clinics under the Clinical Establishments Act, both outlets reported.

The repeat names are the real story. If people caught two decades ago could open clinics again in the same industrial belt, the gap is in follow-up as much as in policing.

From Kutch came a customs case with a security edge. The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence said it had uncovered imports of about 7,311 tonnes of rock salt of Pakistani origin, worth around Rs 30 crore, brought in through Mundra and Kandla ports since March, according to Greater Kashmir and an IANS report. Imports from Pakistan have been banned since 2025. The DRI alleged that the salt was routed through Colombo, with fake UAE certificates of origin. Four people were arrested under the Customs Act, and searches covered Gandhidham, Adipur and Veraval among other places.

Two more items touched Gujarat. Ahmedabad air traffic control picked up a hijack code from an Air India Frankfurt-Delhi flight, AI-2030, for a few seconds on Wednesday morning, DeshGujarat and India TV reported. The plane was diverted to Jaipur and landed safely, and passengers were rescreened. India TV reported that the pilot denied triggering the code and cited a technical problem. The DGCA is looking into it. Separately, Business Standard and India TV reported that the US State Department has announced a visit by Secretary of State Marco Rubio to Mumbai and Jamnagar between 17 and 22 October. Jamnagar is home to Reliance's refinery, and energy is expected to be on the agenda.