Congress vice-president tries to strike a chord with voters in Kutch, lambasts BJP’s ‘Gujarat model’, saying it did not benefit locals.
Kutch, Gujarat: From declaring his fondness for Gujarati food to acknowledging that he has learnt a lot about the state in two months, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi Tuesday tried to strike a chord with voters at an election rally in Kutch.
“Yesterday my sister came to my house and said what is happening. Everything in your kitchen is Gujarati — pickle, peanuts,” Rahul said addressing a packed rally at Anjar in Kutch .
“You (Gujaratis) have spoilt my habits in the last two months. My weight is increasing and I would like to thank you for it,” he added.
With the Congress looking to make chinks in the BJP bastion of Kutch, which is being linked to Gujarat development model by the latter, Gandhi kicked off the last phase of his campaigning from Kutch.
He said he learnt a lot from the people of Gujarat. “You have also taught me a lot. This election is an ideological fight. But I have got a lot of benefit from this. I got to listen to your feelings and thoughts and understood what needs to be changed in Gujarat,” Rahul said.
The Congress vice-president alleged that the BJP has only helped industrialists flourish in the region while keeping the common person in want of basic needs such as water and electricity.
“We have been hearing about you getting water from Narmada for the past 22 years. Do you get this water,” Rahul asked.
“I will not name anyone, but the government gave 45,000 acres of land, your land, land that belonged to Gujarat’s farmers to one single person. He got the Narmada water. He got the electricity,” he said in a veiled reference to the Adani Group’s Mundra Port.
However, criticising the BJP’s claim, Rahul said that what is being talked about is “Narendra Modi’s model”, not Gujarat model. “The Gujarat model lies in the power of women, farmers and Gujarat’s common man and ensuring that the benefits of your land go to you,” the Congress leader said.
The Kutch region has six assembly seats — Bhuj, Rapar, Anjar, Gandhidham, Mandvi and Abdasa — of which BJP currently holds five. The only seat with the Congress is the border constituency of Abdasa, which has a 38 per cent Muslim population, where senior Congress leader Shaktisinh Gohil is the sitting MLA. Gohil will now contest from Mandvi.
Moreover, the BJP has consistently held on to Mandvi since 1985, Bhuj since 1990 and Anjar since 1995 with the exception of one five-year term from 2002 in the immediate aftermath of the earthquake. Incidentally, PM Narendra Modi too started his election blitzkrieg from Kutch with a rally in Bhuj.
The BJP, which has pitched senior leaders in Kutch such as Vasanbhai Ahir from Anjar or Nimaben Acharya from Bhuj, is hoping to hold on to its citadel by highlighting the rapid development of the region after the 2001 earthquake, industrialisation and port-led development.
Meanwhile, the Congress is trying to project how the sons of the soil have not benefitted from any of it.
“If industries are coming to a village and people from that village are getting jobs, there is some use of the development,” said Rajeev Satav, secretary of the All India Congress Committee.
“But voters are disenchanted to see that new employment has not come their way at all. It is mostly people from other states who have benefitted,” he added.
Sarav claims there is ample resentment among the people of Kutch against the BJP and voters are looking at the Congress with hopes.
Hansaben Rathod, a housewife from Ekta Nagar, Gandhidham, said this time the Congress is making a definite effort as compared with the past few elections. “Modi’s development in Kutch hasn’t reached my slum at all. We still don’t have clean drinking water. The access road is bad. I will vote for the Congress,” she said.
Ram Dev, a resident of Madhapar near Bhuj, said the in some seats, the Congress’ choice of candidates is weak and that is likely to push voters like him to side with the BJP.
“The BJP has nominated three sitting MLAs in the region, whereas Congress candidates are not so well known,” he said. “In my constituency, the Congress has a candidate who is known to work more for Musilms. If there was someone else, I would have thought about it.”
In Kutch, the Congress has fielded one candidate each from the Muslim, Dalit, Patidar and backward class segments and two from the upper castes. The BJP doesn’t have any Muslim face in the region with a 76.89 percent Hindu population and 21.14 per cent Muslims out of total 20.9 lakh population.
The party has three nominees from the upper castes, one Patidar and one candidate each from the Dalit and OBC communities.
BJP’s Vinod Chavda, MP from Kutch, said, “Irrespective of the Congress’ campaigning, the BJP will sweep Kutch. People cannot forget the how the BJP has helped them rebuild cities, villages after the earthquake.”
“People who left Kutch to seek job opportunities at other places have come back, the population has doubled and this itself is evidence enough of the development,” he added.
He stressed the BJP is at the helm of Kutch’s local bodies and Zilla Parishads.