Twitter
Advertisement

Gujarat elections 2017 | Will Patel votes swing Cong way in Surat?

Patidar voters clearly dominate five Assembly segments in Surat, and also have minor presence in the other segments

Latest News
article-main
FacebookTwitterWhatsappLinkedin

Surat has been an impregnable fortress of the BJP for several years, especially the Patidar-dominated areas where the party has swept election after election. However, going by the ground situation, in the coming Assembly elections, the sailing may not be as smooth as it used to be.

Patidar voters clearly dominate five Assembly segments in Surat, and also have minor presence in the other segments. In the 2012 Assembly elections, the BJP had comfortably won all five Patidar-dominated seats in Surat, each of them with huge margins.

The smallest victory margin was 20,000 votes, from the Varachha Road seat, while it was 22,000 votes from Surat North. BJP nominees won from Katargam with a lead of 43,000 votes, Karanj, with close to 50,000, and Kamrej, with a whopping 60,000 votes.

There was practically no contest, but many in the Congress feel that good fights will be seen in at least three of these seats, and if the Patidar factor works, the party could even wrest a couple of seats from the BJP.

Interestingly, the Patidar agitation is the reason the BJP has repeated only one of its five MLAs in these seats and fielded new faces in the other four.

Varachha Road, the Patidar hub of Surat, is one seat which can see a tough fight. The Congress has fielded former MLA Dhiru Gajera to take on Kumar Kanani, the only one among the five MLAs to be repeated. Even though Gajera lost in 2007 and 2012 elections, a close contest is on the cards, and many believe that Gajera could even avenge his 2012 loss.

"The Patidar anger towards the BJP over denial of reservation is obviously a key factor, but decisions such as demonetisation and GST have also hurt the community a lot. Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi repeatedly spoke about these issues in his public meeting at Varachha earlier this month," said a Congress leader from Surat.

A similar fight is expected in Kamrej, which has a mix of urban and rural voters. The two parties are on an even keel in rural areas, but the Congress, surprisingly, has an advantage in urban pockets.

"Congress candidates had won all the 12 seats in municipal corporation polls in 2015 in the three city wards that are part of the Kamrej seat. If we can repeat such a performance or anything close to it, we have a shot at winning," he said.

BJP's Ajay Choksi had won the Surat North seat in 2012, but the party has dropped him and fielded a Patel this time. The Congress has repeated its 2012 losing candidate Dinesh Kachhadiya in the hope of getting Patel votes.

The ruling party has a clear advantage in the other two Patel-dominated seats — Katargam and Karanj, but the contests are unlikely to be one-sided. The BJP has fielded Patel candidates from both seats, while the Congress has fielded a Patel from Katargam, and an OBC candidate in Karanj.

"Patels dominate Karanj too, but the seat has a good mix of voters," according to a Congress worker.

Find your daily dose of news & explainers in your WhatsApp. Stay updated, Stay informed-  Follow DNA on WhatsApp.
Advertisement

Live tv

Advertisement
Advertisement