145;Outsider146; Advani in driver146;s seat

Hot seat Gandhinagar may throw up some surprises this time. Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani8217;s victory from here was never in doubt, b...

Hot seat Gandhinagar may throw up some surprises this time. Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani8217;s victory from here was never in doubt, but the fact that Congress candidate Gabhaji Thakore may make a significant dent in his vote bank is news.

A national-level leader who has done a lot for his constituency, Advani has always been sure of his votes. The fact that he is Deputy PM in a coalition which seems set to return to power gives him an extra edge. But Gabhaji is backed by the backward castes, as well as many residents who see him as 8216;8216;one of us8217;8217;. Advani, on the other hand, is an 8216;8216;outsider8217;8217;.

With the fight limited to Advani and Gabhaji, who8217;s a former state minister and MP from Kapadvanj twice, there seems to be little interest in 11 other candidates, including father of slain former Minister of State for Home Haren Pandya.

For the first time since 1989, the caste factor seems to be working here and is being linked to development issue. 8216;8216;Me and my family have always voted for the BJP but this year we have decided to change,8217;8217; says Kanu Patni, who lives in a chawl in Chandkheda area of Sabarmati constituency.

Even the development plank on which the two parties 8212; BJP and Congress 8212; are seeking votes, is not being bought by residents here. 8216;8216;We were promised LPG and drinking water. But we don8217;t have any,8217;8217; says Saraswati, Kanu8217;s wife. 8216;8216;Had it not been for Gabhaji, we would have voted for BJP as we always have. But Gabhaji knows our problems,8217;8217; says Shankar Marwadi, a resident of Kadia-ni-Chali.

Of the 21-lakh odd voters in Gandhinagar, 70 per cent belong to OBCs, Kshatriyas and Muslims 8212; something the Congress hopes will work to Gabhaji8217;s advantage.

Interestingly, Gabhaji stays only a few hundred meters away from Gulbarg Society where 42 persons were massacred during the post-Godhra riots two years ago. An accused in the massacre and resident of Chamanpura says, 8216;8216;We will certainly vote for him. He has always been on our side, we can8217;t let him down now.8217;8217;

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In the state capital, the voter is talking politics. 8216;8216;If someone other than a BJP man is elected from here, he will never be able to get anything done for our betterment as there is a BJP Government in the state and they will be there at the Centre too after May,8217;8217; says Ashish Joshi, an engineer.

At the other end of the constituency, residents of Muslim-dominated Juhapura area say they know what to do. 8216;8216;Nobody has bothered to come to us. But with Congress weakening, it hardly leaves me with a choice. And Advani, though an outsider, has proved himself,8217;8217; says Imitiaz Sheikh, who deals in plastic goods.

Advani8217;s work is appreciated by all. He has provided ambulances from his MP8217;s Local Area Development Fund and an electric crematorium is under construction on the Sarkhej-Gandhinagar highway. Advani won the last election in 1999 by a margin of more than 1.7 lakh votes. This time, the margin may be lesser.