A different poll lingo

Jethva, who hails from Khamba, a village in the periphery of Gir Sanctuary, had hoped to get a BJP ticket, but the party showed little interest in his agenda. “In the last seven years, 200 Asiatic lions have died in the Gir Sanctuary. In the last couple of years, poaching has become rampant. But political parties are not interested,” he says.

The former president of the Gir Nature Youth Club talks to people about the damage done to the ecosystem and how it’s never too late to act. According to him, heavy mining in the coastal belt of Junagadh and Amreli has destroyed grassland and wetlands. He says there are more than 35 mines near the sanctuary. “If I get elected, I will make Gir-Mitiyana and Gir-Kodinar, home to around 150 lions, a protected corridor”.

‘I want to take my opponent by his horns’

This counter-terrorism expert has left the frosty heights of Siachen, where he was posted, for the heat of politics. He is contesting as an Independent from the crime-infested Porbandar seat and says he wants to “fight for law and order and participative politics”.

“People always say they want clean candidates. I say I have done nothing wrong so far. Vote for me,” he says, “While in the army, I have always fought against odds. I know how to handle opponents.”

Now he talks to voters about entrepreneurship banking, micro-financing, innovative thinking and cooperative farming; but of course, in a language his voters, majority of them Mers and Kharwas, understand. “These are things that the fishing community needs most,” he says.

Mehta’s reason for joining politics: “I want to take the opponent by his horns”. Once an armyman, always an armyman?

major(Rtd) Ketan Mehta

Independent (Porbandar)

Cash: Rs 1.6 lakh

Investments and Deposits: Rs 11.25 lakh

Property: Rs 5,28 lakh