Voters in the Mira Road-Bhayander constituency have been given a devil’s alternative. They are furious with the Congress for denying ticket to popular leader Muzaffar Hussain.
In the fray are Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) candidate Gilbert Mendonca and Narendra Mehta of the BJP. The former has 24 criminal cases against his name. Mehta, too, is facing corruption charges. Many voters have vowed not to vote for either of them.
For the others, Mehta is the lesser evil. “Both candidates have cases registered against them, but Mendonca is a criminal. I don’t want to commit the sin of voting for a criminal,” says Michael D’Souza. “We too are Christians like Mendonca, but we are ashamed of him. Wasting our votes will mean supporting him indirectly. So, we will be compelled to vote for the BJP.”
Some Muslim voters in the constituency, too, say grudgingly that they have been left with no choice other than voting for the “fascist” BJP.But what is more incredible is that the Gujaratis are rueing they will have to vote for Patel instead of Hussain.
“The Gujaratis have always voted for the BJP. But not us. We are for Hussain. We think the BJP is a communal party. Hussain is a secular leader, with a clean track record. We have been robbed of our first choice by the Congress leadership,” says Rekha Kapadia, president of Vaishnav Samaj.
Some Congress party workers are not even canvassing for the ruling alliance. They have told their NCP counterparts not to count on them. “We have an option of registering negative votes. We will sign and return without voting. We do not want to help Mendonca. Had there been a strong Gujarati leader, we would have thought of voting for him,” says Mohini Singhani, president women’s wing ward 65, Mira Road Congress party.
Residents at late night meetings are spreading the word they would be registering their protest by abstaining from voting. They are not sure of their leaders, but they are sure of one thing. “We will spring a surprise,” says Ghulam Shaikh, a local Muslim leader.
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