Cong saves face in Gandhinagar,Tapi citadels

Congress not only retained the Gandhinagar district panchayat,but it also improved its tally of seats. “It was good work done by the Congress in the district,” Mahendrasinh said,adding while his father addressed public meetings elsewhere,he left Gandhinagar district to him alone. However,Union minister Sachin Pilot had addressed a public meeting at Mansa.

Of the total 27 seats,the Congress won 19 and the BJP eight. In 2005,the Congress had won 15 of the 25 seats while the BJP won 10.

Gandhinagar district,with four talukas,has a population of about 7 lakh,excluding Gandhinagar town,which has a population of a little above 2 lakh as per 2001 Census. According to Congress sources,though BJP strengthened its position in South Gujarat districts through a series of agitations launched by other saffron outfits and wresting Dangs from Congress,it was the combination of 20 per cent Christians and 10 per cent Muslims generally voting for Congress that halted the BJP’s jaggernaut in the south and saved Congress face in the state.

In fact,Congress lost all its important citadels from Anand and Bharuch in Central and South Gujarat to Rajkot in Saurashtra. While Union minister Bharatsinh Solanki hails from Anand,Bharuch is the home district of Congress stalwart Ahmed Patel who himself camped in Bharuch for a few days during elections. Similarly,Congress also lost Bhavnagar,the home district of leader of Opposition Shaktisinh Gohil and Porbander,the home district of former opposition leader Arjun Modhwadia.