Controversy after fire tender sent to Gujarat BJP MLA’s house to wash it

A video showing a fire tender spraying water at the house of former Gujarat minister and BJP MLA Bachubhai Khabad in Dahod has gone viral, triggering a controversy over the misuse of an emergency vehicle to wash a house.Gujarat minister and BJP MLA Bachubhai Khabad. (Bachubhai Khabad-X)The incident took place at Khabad’s house in Pipero village in Dhanpur taluka. The fire tender was sent from Devgadh Baria Municipal Corporation after municipal officials received a call seeking its services. Devgadh Baria municipal fire officer Mayur Singh Chauhan told media persons he was instructed by the civic body’s chief to dispatch the vehicle to Pipero.“When the vehicle arrived at the MLA’s residence in Pipero village, his associates asked us to wash the house, specifically instructing us to start the washing process from the front,” Chauhan said. He said that he put a stop to the operation when his staff told him they were being asked to wash the house, and he ordered the collection of applicable charges. “Our officials will investigate this,” he said.Devgadh Baria municipal chairperson Dharmesh Kalal said he sent the fire tender after receiving a call from Khabad.“I assumed there was an emergency and immediately dispatched the vehicle,” Kalal said. He said the operation was stopped after the fire officer was informed about the request to wash the house. The MLA paid ₹2,700 towards the expenses, according to Kalal.The Congress president of the Dahod City unit, Rajesh Raval, questioned the deployment of the fire tender for the cleaning exercise when residents of Devgadh Baria were only getting municipal water once every two days. He said who would have been responsible if an emergency had occurred while the fire tender was at the MLA’s house and demanded action against those responsible.According to media reports, Khabad was reportedly away from home for treatment and was recuperating from a major surgery when the incident occurred.Municipal officials said they were investigating the circumstances of the call and the deployment of the fire tender.The incident comes nearly a year after Khabad was dropped from the Gujarat cabinet in October 2025 during chief minister Bhupendra Patel’s cabinet reshuffle.Khabad’s sons, Balvantsinh and Kiran Khabad, were arrested in May 2025 in connection with an alleged ₹71 crore irregularity in the implementation of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) in Dahod.Officials alleged that between January 2021 and December 2024, 35 firms siphoned off ₹71 crore by submitting fake work completion certificates and invoices for MGNREGS projects in Devgadh Baria and Dhanpur talukas.Kiran Khabad was arrested along with four others, including Dahod deputy district development officer Rasik Rathwa and taluka panchayat officials Dilip Chauhan and Bhavesh Rathod. A proprietor of one of the firms allegedly involved in the irregularities was also arrested.According to the FIR, Shri Raj Construction, owned by Balvant and Kiran Khabad, allegedly received ₹82 lakh for the supply of goods between January 2021 and December 2024. Kiran Khabad’s firm was allegedly paid nearly ₹30 crore.The case came to light after the district rural development authority conducted an inquiry following complaints about irregularities. The state government had said a Lokpal committee was examining the alleged irregularities and that action would follow the inquiry.