Five years after the infamous rape and murder cases in Kalol’s Eral village, the constituency faces another election. The wounds are as raw and the schisms are as wide as in 2002, but this time the undercurrents are stronger. Around 52 people were killed in the 2002 carnage and the over 140 families which were displaced had to move to two resettlement colonies, one near Kalol town and the other near Delol railway station. This time, the riot-affected are eager to vote, with many having fought for their chance to exercise their rights. Several of them stayed out of the polls in 2002, too scared to leave their homes.It was in October this year that a local Godhra court sentenced eight people to life imprisonment for the murder of seven persons and the rape of three women during the post-Godhra riots of 2002. While Muslims have learned to live under police protection, the unease is palpable during convictions, as the families of the jailed vent their ire on the BJP for deserting them during the court trials. Kalol is a semi-urban, non-tribal constituency in the predominantly tribal Panchmahals district. Its semi-urban population has ensured that the BJP has kept the seat for 12 years, with Prabhatsinh Chauhan, the sitting Minister for Tribal Affairs, winning elections from here, mostly unchallenged, since 1995. An OBC, Chauhan’s winning streak is largely due to Kalol’s significantly huge OBC population, followed by the Patel community, which also favours the BJP.
