Shah has been in charge of the election campaign of BJP’s Kalyansinh Chauhan, while Amin is busy wooing voters on behalf of Congress candidate CA Chavda.
The by-polls for 10 assembly seats in Gujarat are crucial for both Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Congress, as it gives them opportunity to test the political waters. Dehgam assembly by-poll may, however, be the most eagerly-awaited one as it witnesses a battle between political stalwarts who have been slugging it out for long in the field of cricket
administration.
State home minister Amit Shah and former deputy chief minister Narhari Amin seem to have taken their rivalry in the cricket board politics to the poll hustings, literally. Shah and Amin are heading the poll campaigns of BJP and Congress at Dehgam and the by-poll provides Amin an opportunity to avenge his humiliation at Gujarat Cricket Association (GCA) turf.
Shah has been in charge of the election campaign of BJP’s Kalyansinh Chauhan, while Amin is busy wooing the voters in favour of Congress candidate CA Chavda.
For Amin, the election provides an opportunity to get back his ‘form’ and prove that he still has a major role to play in the state politics. He had lost the assembly elections from Matar two years ago. A victory for the party may come as redemption to him.
Shah, on the other hand, has a task up his sleeve. The BJP leader wants to give no room whatsoever to Amin and continue his dominance over the veteran Congress leader.
Since the day the by-polls were announced, Shah became a regular visitor of Dehgam constituency. Even cricket took the backseat. As per the high court directives, the date for Central Board of Cricket Ahmedabad’s (CBCA) AGM is nearing, but the election duty seems to have kept Shah away. “Saheb is very busy in ‘election duty’. Once by-polls are over, we will decide our future plans,” said a CBCA member.
Admitting that the seat has become a prestige issue, BJP spokesperson Yamal Vyas said, “The rivalry between the two leaders has added some spice to the contest. For last two weeks, both of them have been working real hard. It will be an interesting result.”
Amin has different ideas though. He observed that the charisma of Rahul Gandhi that enabled United Progressive Alliance (UPA) to form the government for second successive term would prevail again. “People will vote for UPA’s development work in the past. We have done well in civic body polls,” the 54-year-old said.
Taking an opportunity to target Shah, Amin alleged the minister was misusing the government machinery.
“We have registered a complaint with the authorities concerned that the ruling party has asked co-operative bank employees of Dehgam to campaign for them. This apart, I am very confident that we will win Dehgam,” said the Congress leader.
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