With AIMIM’s entry, Jamalpur-Khadia stares at a 3-cornered fight

The protesters, who demanded a ticket for former municipal corporator Shahnawaz Sheikh, alleged that Khedawala was selected in return for money. However, Khedawala refuted the claim. “Not a single person who protested is a resident of the Jamalpur-Khadia constituency. They are all outsiders. It is planted by the BJP. They protested with BJP’s support as they are aware that they are going to be defeated from the seat,” Khedawala said.

The protesters, who demanded a ticket for former municipal corporator Shahnawaz Sheikh, alleged that Khedawala was selected in return for money. However, Khedawala refuted the claim. “Not a single person who protested is a resident of the Jamalpur-Khadia constituency. They are all outsiders. It is planted by the BJP. They protested with BJP’s support as they are aware that they are going to be defeated from the seat,” Khedawala said.

“Nobody should break the discipline. Dissent can be expressed but not in this manner. Before today, too, there were supporters for other seats such as Umreth, Vatva and Kadi who had come to express their dissent. We heard them and communicated to the seniors. We are not stopping dissent but it should be in a democratic manner. It is not a good example. Action to be taken against those involved will be decided by the party high command,” said GPCC spokesperson Parthiv Kathwadia.

Until the 2009 delimitation, Jamalpur-Khadia was a BJP bastion. However, the fight for the constituency is likely to be triangular this time with All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) Gujarat president Sabir Kabliwala entering the contest. The three Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) wards (each having four seats) that make up the seat—Behrampura, Jamalpur and Khadia—are equally represented by councillors from the BJP, Congress and AIMIM.

The assembly constituency with nearly 2.17 lakh votes has around 1.13 lakh Hindu and 1.04 lakh Muslim voters. It has seen five elections—three Lok Sabha and two Vidhan Sabha—after the delimitation of 2009. The Assembly election of 2012 was contested on a completely new geographical and demographical representation after the entire Muslim-dominated area of Jamalpur became a part of the former Khadia constituency.

“In all the five elections (from 2012), the BJP had maintained a vote count of around 47,000-49,000 and the Congress 60,000-65,000,” said Bhushan, whose father, the late Ashok Bhatt was a minister in the Keshubhai Patel government and later, the Speaker of the Gujarat assembly.

In 2012, then sitting MLA Sabir Kabliwala, who was denied a Congress ticket, contested independently and got around 30,000 votes. Congress’s Samirkhan Sipai netted around 42,000 votes, while Bhushan won with around 48,000 votes.

However, in 2017, Kabliwala did not contest and those votes went to Khedawala, Bhushan said, adding that today Kabliwala is not alone but backed by AIMIM that will affect the Congress votes. This is because three of their councillors from Behrampura seat won by a margin of less than 200 votes, he explained.

Both Bhatt and Khedawala alleged that Kabliwala was “responsible” for their loss. “In 2012, Bhushan Bhatt won due to Kabliwala. But now, people are aware about this and they won’t fall into the trap. Last time, I won by 30,000 votes. This time, I am confident of a victory by over 40,000 votes”, Khedawala says.

In the February AMC 2021 elections, Khedawala attracted a lot of attention from both party members and his supporters when Jamalpur sitting councillor Shahnawaz Sheikh, who is also an NSUI leader, was denied a ticket. Hundreds of NSUI members resigned in protest. Later, he was given a ticket from Khadia ward, a BJP bastion, which he lost. Then, too, it was alleged that Sheikh was denied a ticket at the behest of Khedawala.

Khedawala did not refute the allegations. He reasoned then that since Sheikh lived in Khadia, it was better he contested from there that would tide over the anti-incumbency issue he might have faced from Jamalpur.

Khedawala rules out the possibility of any dent in his vote share. But in a recent interview to The Indian Express, he had admitted that AIMIM was fielding candidates to cut Congress votes, including in his own seat. “I had said that as there was no public meeting of Asaduddin Owaisi then. But now, at all his public meetings, there is hardly any crowd. People now realise that AIMIM is BJP’s B team and they have come to help them like in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar elections,” Khedawala clarified.

For the constituency, he said, “There is no party plot and community hall for the residents. I will demand land along the Sabarmati Riverfront adjoining the constituency area for these two. Other daily issues such as roads and water supply were mostly taken care of in the past five years.”

The demand for a party plot and community hall is also listed in Bhushan’s priority list. “With the heritage houses being pulled down and converted into commercial buildings, I will demand the area to be declared a residential zone. Also, the only government ayurvedic hospital that has been shifted out should be reopened,” he said.