Rural battlegrounds – Kheda and Banaskantha

One of the BJP public meetings in interior Banaskantha

By our correspondent, Gandhinagar, 17 February 2013

Today’s Panchayat elections involving more than 3.1 million voters has some political significance.

Both districts witnessing district panchayat polls today are represented in Lok Sabha by Congress. The districts are Banaskantha and Kehda. While Banaskantha is represented by Mukesh Gadhvi, Kheda seat is represented by union Cabinet minister Dinsha Patel. BJP has not been able to win these two Lok Sabha seats for last more than once in past elections.

While Banaskantha district panchayat is ruled by Congress at present, the Kheda district panchayat is governed by BJP.

Interestingly, Banaskantha district panchayat chief Shri Dalsangbhai Patel and former Chairman Mavjibhai Dhukh have recently left Congress party to join BJP. Dalsangbhai is Chairman of Banaskantha district cooperative bank for last many years, and enjoys good hold. However in a talk with DeshGujarat, he said he joined the BJP after fielding his all good candidates from Congress. He added that chances of BJP’s victory are very bright in Banaskantha this time. Dalsangbhai represents Chaudhary community while Mavjibhai Dhukh is from Thakor community.

While on the Congress front, local MP Mukesh Gadhvi has to show his strength, on the other side on the BJP front, former MP Chaudhary, MLA Dilipsinh Thakor, powerful second generation state BJP leader Shankar Chaudhary, and young BJP national leader Amit Thakar(who has been given responsibility to ensure victory here) are working hard. Thakar was given the responsibility of Banaskantha during the 2007 assembly elections, and the results were excellent. He was given responsibility of difficult Bhavnagar district in the last assembly polls, and there too BJP surprisingly did well. Now he has to achieve one more success in Banaskantha district panchayat polls.

In Kheda, the district panchayat chief and BJP man Rakesh Rao left the party to fight assembly election independently and he lost. Similarly another district level BJP man Bimal Shah is inactive after not given ticket to contest the assembly poll. Two BJP MLAs representing Nadiad and Matar are not district level leaders. Nadiad MLA Pankaj Desai has chance to show his strength outside Nadiad.In Kathlal by-election he demonstrated that. Matar MLA Devusinh Chauhan may be at his help. Kheda is the district where Shankersinh Vaghela’s Kapadvanj assembly seat is located, also the only union cabinet minister from Gujarat Shri Dinsha Patel represents this district.

People vote in panchayats, assembly and Lok Sabha polls differently, but even then, the verdict of these two district panchayats may give some idea about chances of both parties in next year’s Lok Sabha general elections on these seats.