Tug of war for power in GSHSEB election

The rift between the confederation of state principals and Ahmedabad city principal federation has widened on the eve of election of members in the Gujarat Secondary and Higher Secondary Education Board (GSHSEB). Ahmedabad City Principal Federation (ACPF) has fielded its own candidate against the Gujarat state principals' federation's candidate for one of the four seats of principals' representatives in the GSHSEB.

Both groups are hurling allegations of 'rebellious and corrupt' against each other. According to sources, Ahmedabad city district has not been given ticket for the last 20 years and despite having maximum votes — 375 — in the state, it doesn't have its representative in the GSHSEB.

The districts are divided into four groups for representation in the board and each group has been given one seat for the principal cadre. Surprisingly, there is no proper process for making groups of the districts and as a result of it, Gandhinagar, Ahmedabad City and Ahmedabad Rural districts and Banaskantha and Porbandar have fallen in the same group. Now contestants will have to travel from Banaskantha (extreme north) to Porbandar (extreme west) for the election campaign.

Presently, there are five candidates for the principal cadre group-3 that includes the five districts. All the candidates are practicing 'dinner diplomacy' to gain votes.