Post-delimitation,this north Gujarat constituency is de-reserved. Earlier,it was dominated by the Dalits and other Scheduled Castes,but now,the Thakors a prominent Other Backward Caste (OBC) hold sway. Known as Anahilvada in early medieval times,Patan was in news for all the wrong reasons with the town being at the epicentre of the infamous gang rape of a Dalit girl by her six teachers. Patan is also politically important,as the state Revenue Minister Anandi Patel,considered a close confidante of Chief Minister Narendra Modi,is an MLA from this constituency. Patan is not a part of the states tourism circuit,but is well known for its 11-12th century step wells the most famous among them being Rani-Ki-Vav as well as the hand woven Patola silk sarees. Previously,Patan was reserved for SCs,but post-delimitation,it is now a de-reserved constituency with a 14.15 lakh strong electorate. Of these,about 28 per cent belong to the Kshatriya community or Thakors,27 per cent are Patels,9 per cent are Muslims and about 11 per cent are SCs. Each of the seven Assembly seats in this constituency has sitting BJP legislators. But post-delimitation,SC and Muslim votes might go in favour of the Congress,throwing BJPs electoral equations off balance. Patan has witnessed some industrial progress in recent times with 4 industrial estates coming up in Patan,Balisana,Lanva and Chanasama. The proposed Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor,Dholera Special Investment Region in Ahmedabad and Gujarat International Finance Tech-city in Gandhinagar are expected to fuel the growth even further. The issues The seat has been won consecutively by Gujarati film actor Mahesh Kanodia for the BJP. Many believe that not much has changed for the constituency even after the delimitation. It is now dominated by the OBCs,so much so that both the BJP and Congress have fielded candidates from the same community. Patan town is an important medical centre that draws patients from nearby Rajasthan,while the rural areas are dominated by farming,ginning mills and a few industries. Locals believe that the region was neglected during the former chief minister,Keshubhai Patels tenure,who favoured Saurashtra. But Narendra Modi,who comes from north Gujarat,has developed the region with a slew of irrigation projects and others schemes. The Dalit girls gang rape issue was a major embarrassment for the state government. But the fast track courts judgment,which awarded life sentences to all the six accused,proved to be a face saver for the government. The candidates Patan is representing a classic case of dal-badal rajniti,as sitting Congress MLA from Sami-Harij Assembly segment,Bhavsinh Rathod,became the BJPs candidate for Patan parliamentary constituency. Congress,on the other hand,has fielded Jagdish Thakore as its candidate to mobilise nearly 4.25 lakh Thakore votes in the constituency in its favour. Moreover,Congress is hoping to gain from the dissent among some BJP workers for the partys fielding a former Congress leader as its candidate: a move that could backfire and hit the BJP hard. To add to it,Bhavsinhs involvement and conviction in a narcotics smuggling case may further damage BJPs chances. Congress candidate Jagdish Thakore,presently Dehgam MLA,enjoys certain advantages due to his familiarity with the area and good following not only among the Thakore community but also in the rural areas where the Congress has a sound presence. The BJP,meanwhile,is hoping to gain from the popularity Bhavsinh enjoys in the Thakore community,as he holds the credit of organising over 1,800 mass marriages in the community. Both Bhavsinh Thakore and Anandi Patel belong to the Thakore community,which had influenced Anandi Patels victory in the 2007 elections.
