Thakor community seems to be rallying behind Alpesh while a section of voters calls him outsider; BJP harping on vikas to retain the seat.
Radhanpur, Patan district: Young OBC leader Alpesh Thakor, who has been fielded by the Congress in the Radhanpur seat in Patan district, has a “50-50 chance” in this election, voters told ThePrint.
A sizeable section of the Thakor community seems to be rallying behind Alpesh, and the Congress hopes to see him through with the backing of the Muslim and Dalit voters.
The BJP, however, is banking on the fact that their candidate Lavinjibhai Thakor will also get a section of the Thakor votes, besides the second most influential Chaudhary community.
While a section of voters considers Alpesh an “outsider”, the BJP is harping on ‘vikas’ to retain the seat.
Radhanpur has around 2.6 lakh voters, of which around 56,000 are Thakors and 50,000 are from the Chaudhary community.
“We have supported the BJP for 30 years and will continue to do so. When the floods hit us in August this year, the BJP government did everything to help us. BJP leaders even walked in knee-deep water to reach us,” said Vajabhai Chaudhary, a resident of Dadhana village, which Alpesh visited minutes before campaigning for the last phase of the election concluded Tuesday.
“Who is Alpesh? He is an outsider. Nobody here knows about him. He is interested only in his community — Thakors,” Chaudhary added.
On the other side of Chaudhary’s street, Raghuji Thakor, in his late sixties, was sitting with a packet of garlands.
“You can see how much we like Alpesh. We are waiting with flowers. We support the Congress. It will improve education and employment in Gujarat. It won’t divide the state like BJP does,” he said.
This sharp divide in Dadhana village, in fact, perfectly describes the mood across Radhanpur constituency, which the BJP won in 2012.
Most voters in the constituency say it is a “close, 50-50 battle”.
“This is a close election. But I support Alpesh and Congress,” said Ishwar Thakor, a shop owner in Radhanpur city.
Rameshbhai Shah, however, disagreed. “Alpesh is an outsider. We haven’t even seen much of his campaign. We need someone who is our person and who can help us if needed even in the middle of the night. BJP is who we support,” Shah, who owns a utensils store, said.
The BJP’s ‘vikas’ narrative may pose a challenge for Alpesh.
“BJP has given us vikas. Alpesh is not a local, plus he is casteist. He had earlier said he is only a social worker, but has now entered politics. How can we trust him,” asked Satish Ahir of Varahi village.
In Motipipli and Sabdalpura village also, voters are divided between Congress and BJP. Some even say that independent candidate, Dr Vishnu Zula, is “educated and popular” and they would support him.
Alpesh, himself, looked confident. As he entered Dadhana village, he wasted no time — he quickly got off his car, addressed the small gathering there and left for the next village, waving to people and shaking their hands from the car.
Barely a couple of hours after making the controversial comments about PM Narendra Modi eating expensive mushrooms from Taiwan, Alpesh spoke to ThePrint on the move, as he drove off from Dadhana.
“I don’t think the Thakor votes in my constituency will get divided. The BJP candidate isn’t that popular. He was in Congress until last elections and he still sometimes forgets he is no longer with the Congress,” said Alpesh.
“Everybody in Gujarat wants change and wants to get rid of BJP’s corrupt politics…BJP is practising vendetta and divisive politics here…It is certain the Congress will form the government in Gujarat this time,” he added.
He claims people like him along with Patidar leader Hardik Patel and Dalit leader Jignesh Mevani are the “voice of the lower middle class and poor” and are fighting for them.