At record low in Gujarat House, Congress goes for broke to retain lone MP’s bastion

Both the Tharad and Vav seats are portion of the Banaskantha parliamentary constituency from wherever Geniben won successful the caller Lok Sabha elections, trouncing the BJP’s Rekhaben Chaudhary by implicit 30,000 votes.

While the BJP bagged 25 Lok Sabha seats retired of the state’s 26, Geniben emerged arsenic the lone Congress MP by winning the Banaskantha seat. The Vav spot was vacated by her, necessitating its by-election to beryllium held connected November 13.

Interestingly, for the Vav bypoll, portion the Congress has fielded Gulabsinh Rajput, the BJP has enactment up Swarupji Thakor. Both of them were the losing candidates of the 2022 polls.

A adjacent adjutant of Geniben, Gulabsinh Rajput is simply a Kshatriya (upper caste) portion Swarupji Thakor belongs to the Thakor (OBC) community.

Vav is simply a agrarian constituency successful northbound Gujarat, dominated by the Thakor and Chaudhary (OBC) caste groups. It besides has important fig of voters from the Brahmin and Dalit communities.

While immoderate observers judge that the Vav bypoll whitethorn witnesser a polarisation betwixt the Thakor and non-Thakor voters, a elder Congress person says, “Geniben’s popularity volition gully Thakor votes to the Congress, truthful determination is simply a bully accidental that we volition again triumph the seat.”

After Geniben’s resignation, the Congress is down to 12 MLAs, its lowest fig successful the Assembly. With its archetypal 17-seat tally, the enactment had not been capable to get the station of Leader of the Opposition, adjacent arsenic 4 enactment MLAs resigned to articulation the BJP successful the aftermath of the 2022 polls.

The Congress has frankincense precocious stakes successful this bypoll, which is besides important for Geniben. The expansive aged enactment is besides going each retired to clasp the Vav spot arsenic it has been its stronghold.

With the AAP deciding not to tract its campaigner successful the bypoll, Rajput is taking connected the BJP campaigner arsenic the Opposition INDIA bloc’s nominee successful a consecutive battle.

Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC) president and Rajya Sabha MP Shaktisinh Gohil says, “People are with us. Our lone situation is that we don’t person the wealth to combat elections, which the BJP has, and it has the authorities machinery.”

He besides says, “We volition walk the full festival play campaigning, till the voting time connected November 13.”

The Congress enactment up a amusement of spot connected Friday erstwhile Rajput filed his nomination, holding a rally addressed by Gohil, Geniben and Congress Legislature Party person Amit Chavda. In their speeches, they said the enactment volition combat against the “ahankari (arrogant)” and “janta virodhi (anti-people)” BJP.

“The BJP has ever discriminated against Banaskantha,” alleges Congress spokesperson Manish Doshi. “Everything was achieved successful Banaskantha aft protests, fights that Geniben took up – beryllium it for the compensation of the farmers whose crops were destroyed successful the squalls of 2017-18, oregon for the repair enactment of the Narmada canal successful the district. These are the issues we volition instrumentality up successful our bypoll campaign.”

Another Congress person claims the enactment would triumph due to the fact that of the “BJP’s infighting”. “They (BJP) had 32 contenders for this 1 seat, portion we had lone four. Why other would a ruling enactment person to state its campaigner aft us?”, the person asks.

On the different hand, the BJP, whose tally successful the House has swelled to 161, exudes assurance that its improvement paper would again work. The ruling party’s Vav bypoll in-charge and Mehmedabad MLA, Arjunsinh Chauhan, said, “People of each communities person decided to guarantee a BJP triumph this clip for development, pursuing which our tally successful the Assembly volition emergence to 162.”

In the past 5 elections since 2002, Congress has bagged the Vav spot 3 times – successful 2002, 2017 and 2022 – with the BJP winning it successful 2007 and 2012.

In 2012, Shankar Chaudhary had defeated Geniben. However, Geniben returned to decision him successful 2017.