They have been brushed aside by Gujarat sweep

No political party has approached them for the divide is clear here: Hindus vote for the BJP, Muslims for the Congress. BJP’s Modasa office in-charge Rajabhai Patel says, ‘‘There is no BJP or Congress here, it’s only Hindus and Muslims. We are not going to get a single Muslim vote.’’ What’s worrying the BJP is the fact that the influx of the riot-hit has increased the number of Muslims in this town. The town now has 20,300 Hindus to 19,600 Muslims. Before the riots, the Hindus totalled 18,000 and the Muslims 16,500.

‘‘We got 500 voters removed from the list because they were registered at two places. There are many more and we will be on the vigil,’’ Patel says, recalling how the town acquired the ‘‘sensitive ’’ tag after witnessing riots in 1966, 1969, 1973 and 2002.

‘‘They owned 1,200 trucks and controlled the transport business, but with barely 250 trucks today they are economically weaker,’’ Patel says.

It’s not surprising that Narendra Modi chose to address a public meeting here on Saturday, three days after Sonia Gandhi spoke to a large gathering. But Patel plays that down. ‘‘Modi or no Modi, Hindus will vote for the BJP.’’

So Shaikh continues to live in a tent— rigged up with bamboos and plastic sheet. Summer, monsoon and winter: he and his family have lived through them all in their torn tent in one of the five relief camps in this town.

Born in Aatalwada, 60 km away, Shaikh worked at a grocer’s shop in Motirath village, about 25 km from here, for the last 12 years. The horror of the past, however, still haunts him.

‘‘No matter what, I won’t return to either of these villages,’’ he says, shuddering as he recalls the frenzy that brought him to this town that has a sizeable population of Muslims. Since then, his employer has visited him at least five times, but he refuses to go back. ‘‘At times, it’s difficult to make both ends meet,’’ admits the 31-year-old, who carries cement bags to eke out a living.

There are still 72 families in tents in this settlement on grazing land. As many as 50 families from Kidiyad village finally moved to pucca houses on April 2. Kidyad saw one of the worst massacres— 74 villagers were massacred at Limbachiya Chowkdi when they were fleeing Kidyad towards Lunawada in the neighbouring Panchamahals. Like residents of several villages, the survivors took shelter in Modasa, sensing safety in numbers.

‘‘All of us saw arson, loot and killings, where is the question of returning?’’ asks Mohamed Hanif of Badagam village.

The last time this tent colony saw a government official was when a team came to demonstrate the use of EVMs. The machine doesn’t faze them. ‘‘Kya karen, kisika gireban to nahi pakad sakte,’’ says 34-year-old Mohamed Farukh, and adds, ‘‘but it’s necessary to vote.’’

‘‘I don’t want to vote, they just exploit us,’’ says Salmabanu, 20, who fled from Dhansura village, about 18 km away. Hers is the lone dissenting voice for the rest are not going to waste their vote.