Saffron party is engaged in a close fight with Opposition party in by-election to Bapunagar ward.
Buoyed by its recent victory in Mansa assembly by-poll last month, the grand old party is hoping to dethrone the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party from Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation's Bapunagar ward seat. However, the saffron party too is confident - or rather complacent - of winning the by-election to the seat. But the opposition is hoping to create history. The votes will be cast on April 8.
The elections have been necessitated as one of the three BJP corporators, Kalpesh Chavda, resigned to join Indian Railways as an assistant engine driver.
The saffron party has fielded party's old-timer Mukesh
Parmar, while Congress candidate Jayanti Chavda is new to the Congress fold. Chavda is associated with Textile Labour Union, popularly known as Majoor Mahajan Sangh.
Sources believe that the Congress candidate is giving tough competition to his rival from the BJP. It is believed that Parmar, who runs a cutlery shop, does not have a good image among the masses, while Chavda has gained popularity in the labour-dominated area. The dalit community with around 15,000 votes and the Saurashtra Patidar community with an equal number of votes are expected to play a critical role in the election. In the polls held in October 2010, the BJP had pocketed the seat by a margin of 2,600 votes.
The BJP is going public with the agenda of development. "It has carried out many development works in Ahmedabad. So we are confident of winning the election," said Mukesh Parmar, BJP candidate.
On the other hand, Congress has used the issue of former corporator's resignation to pocket votes. "The BJP corporator could not hold his nerves and had to resign from the party as it could not provide facilities to people in the area," said Mangal Surajkar, Congress corporator from neighbouring Naroda Road ward. He also said that BJP has failed to provide basic amenities in the area and so Congress hopes to clinch the deal.
The BJP has asked all its corporators to campaign in the ward as it does not want to leave any stone unturned.
Many a corporator had given the meeting convened last week a miss, but there was a good crowd as many corporators brought workers with them, said BJP sources. With the seat reserved for a Schedule Caste (SC) candidate, the dalit leaders of Congress have camped in the areas to ensure party's victory.
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