Anand is a recently carved out district of Charotar Central Gujarat's tobacco growing region,but it is Kheda,which dominates the traditional ethos here. Nadiad is the town centre of the constituency,and the presence of Dinsha Patel,Union Minister of State for Petroleum,catapults it to national political importance. It remains a traditional Congress bastion,where the Kshatriyas numerically dominate the Patels as compared to the neighbouring Anand district. Ironically,BJP candidate Devusinh Chauhan was a Congressman till the 2007 Assembly polls. A part of the erstwhile Gaekwad state was located in Kheda,which led to the presence of a rail network,primary schools and also educational institutions. But agriculture remains the mainstay,and the dominant Kshatriya population retains small land holdings or work as landless agricultural labourers. The sizeable Muslim population in areas like Mehmedabad,which is a historical town,also remains primarily agrarian. The town centres,like the rest of the state,now remain dominated by the BJP,but this is one of the few pockets in Gujarat,where the Congress still retains a good grassroots network of party workers. At the same time,the BJP has also made efforts to take over the dairy co-operative sector network,among other co-operative institutions. The district witnessed the 2002 riots,but also has the distinction of having the first life-term conviction in the post Godhra riots case ever by a Gujarat court. The Nadiad court awarded the first-ever life sentence relating to the Ghodasar massacre case of the 2002 riots,where rioting mobs killed families in the fields. In addition to the Kshatriyas,Patels and Muslims,Dalits also form a sizeable chunk. The issues Political fights are keenly watched in this relatively prosperous district. Even while no specific local issues dominate the poll fight,which is primarily between the Congress and the BJP,the Congress always has an edge in the region. The availability of water for irrigation remains one of the issues. The bifurcation of Kheda,which included Anand earlier,took away the chunk of major educational institutes to the neighbouring district,but Nadiad has a concentration of good educational institutes which unlike Kheda,are not necessarily only patronised by the Patels. The Dharmsinh Desai Institute of Technology is considered to be one of the major engineering universities in the Central Gujarat region. One of the best trust hospitals for kidney diseases is also located in Nadiad,even as the region tries to strive for better facilities,as it is nearer to Ahmedabad. Agriculture being a mainstay,farmers issues like power availability and water as well as issues related to the control over local institutions,play a dominant factor. The candidates A traditional Congress bastion,it has been breached only twice by non-Congress candidates,first in 1989 and then subsequently in 1991. Dinsha Patel,consecutively elected three times as the MP,went on to become one of the three Union Ministers in the UPA government from Gujarat. The Congress dominance can also be seen in the choice of incumbent BJP candidate Devusinh Chauhan,who owed his political roots to the Congress till 2007. Chauhan became the BJP candidate for the 2007 Assembly polls after the Congress denied him a ticket. The BJP could now be resting hopes on him as he defeated veteran Congressman Narhari Amin,who is also associated with the Gujarat Cricket Association,in 2007. But Chauhan does face grumblings from within the BJP,as the grassroots party workers do not perceive him to be a true face of the party. Dinsha Patel,a three time MP,is known to dominate the region cutting across caste and class factor. Though well-heeled with a strong connection with the Diaspora,Dinsha always had the advantage of having a clean image and being accessible at all times. He was chosen by the Congress to take on Chief Minister Narendra Modi in the 2007 Assembly seat in a symbolic fight. Dinsha,a state Public Works Department Minister in the seventies,remains rooted to the region,and despite the Kshatriya dominance,has been able to win over both the Kshatriya and the Patel communities. Also,heading the Sardar Patel Memorial Trust,post 2002,he was one of the few who resisted the BJPs ploy to appropriate the Sardar Patel legacy to its political convenience. Though it remains a traditional advantage for Dinsha,post delimitation,the Congress dominated Assembly constituents have made way for newer regions like Daskroi and Dholka,from Ahmedabad district,which have strong BJP presence.
