© The Indian Express (P) Ltd
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Journalism of Courage
Viramgam constituency in Ahmedabad district is now the most-watched seat in Gujarat, after the BJP nominated Patidar quota stir leader Hardik Patel as its candidate from here. At 28, Hardik is the youngest candidate so far named in the current elections, and will be contesting his first election.
The BJP has picked Hardik over several party veterans as well as his aides who were also in contention for the seat. While Hardik has several things going for him, being a native of Viramgam and having led the Patidar agitation, the in-house disgruntled leaders may pull him down. Several had opposed giving a ticket to Hardik, who crossed over from the Congress only in May.
Besides, the Congress has won the seat the past two times. In 2012, its Tejashreeben Patel had defeated local BJP veteran Pragjibhai Patel by 16,983 votes. Later, Tejashreeben had changed her loyalty to the BJP and was fielded by the party from the seat in 2017. That time too, the Congress – helped by the Patidar anger against the BJP – had won, its candidate Lakhabhai Bharwad beating Tejashreeben, though by a much narrower margin of 6,548 votes.
Before 2012 though, the BJP had won Viramgam in 1995 (when the party started its unbroken reign in the state), 2002 and 2007.
Of the total 3 lakh-odd voters in Viramgam, Thakors at 1 lakh are the biggest group, followed by around 38,000 Patidars, 28,000 Dalits, and over 22,000 Muslim voters.
The Congress is yet to announce its candidate, though it is likely to repeat sitting MLA Lakhabhai Bharwad, who is well liked as a down-to-earth leader despite his wealth. The equations in the seat, at least on paper, are favourable towards the Congress – with the party set to corner the Muslim vote.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has declared Kunvarji Thakor as its candidate, and will be counting on taking away some of the Muslim vote apart from that of the Thakors.
However, Hardik has a point to prove in his first election. Since his successful role in the Patidar quota, the young leader has been struggling to find his feet, first drifting to the Congress, then complaining about being sidelined in the party, later crossing to the BJP and not making much of a mark in the party either.
Lately though, with elections coming near, Hardik had been preparing the ground in Viramgam, spending most of his time in the seat and carrying out various social, educational and religious activities through a voluntary organisation, Jan Sevashram Trust, run by his wife Kinjal.
After getting the BJP ticket, Hardik announced that, if elected, he would donate his MLA salary to cattle pounds and women’s welfare organisations, and work towards Viramgam being declared a district.
Congress spokesperson Manish Doshi said the ticket to Hardik showed the BJP’s hypocrisy. “I really pity the BJP because it creates a voice against itself (in Hardik), then sends him to jail by slapping a sedition case against him. But the moment he joins the BJP, he becomes clean. Kamalam (the BJP headquarters) is really magical! Basically, the party must answer if they believe in the Constitution or in arbitrariness.”
AAP spokesperson Yogesh Jadvani said: “The BJP calls itself the world’s largest political party. But it includes such leaders who have abused all BJP leaders, including (Prime Minister) Narendra Modi and (Home Minister) Amit Shah. It shows the BJP is proving itself to be a party without ideology.”
