Satyajit Gaekwad, Congress candidate says he can always be approached by the people of Vadodara.
Satyajit Gaekwad, Congress candidate says he can always be approached by the people of Vadodara.I lost by just 6,600 votes in the 2004 elections. This is not really bad if you keep in mind the fact that the electorate was polarised along communal lines at the time as the post-Godhra riots of 2002 were still fresh in people’s mind. My party has fielded me from Vadodara once again, which is an indication of its belief that I can win from here again.
The good work done by the UPA government and my own popularity among people will both work in my favour. I can always be approached by the people of Vadodara, and not only when I am not the sitting MP.
The outgoing Vadodara MP, BJP’s Jayaben Thakkar, was a big disappointment as a people’s representative. Her performance as MP was so poor that it would not be wrong to say that the Sanskar Nagri (city of culture) was virtually without an MP during the three terms she was its representative. It will be hard for the new BJP candidate to undo the damage done by Jayaben Thakkar to the party’s electoral prospects here.
Vadodara has a lot of potential and can be next most important city in western India after Mumbai. I have got the potential to realise what late Sir Sayajirao Gaekwad had dreamt for Vadodara. Vadodara lost out to Surat and Rajkot in the race for development only because it did not have a representative with a vision. Modi always boasts of developing the state but he has done nothing for Vadodara, which could have been developed easily into the state’s IT hub.
Under the BJP rule, Vadodara has actually gone back in time as many industries, especially pharmaceutical companies, have shifted from here in search of tax benefits. No new employment opportunities have been created. We need more industries in the constituency. Poor infrastructure is also a major problem. We are far behind other Gujarat cities in infrastructure. I am confident I will win the elections this time.
As told to DNA 
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