CPM leader confident of winning

Arun Mehta, the CPM candidate who contested the last three elections from the Bhavnagar constituency, is confident of beating the Congress candidate in the Gujarat elections.

Mehta, considered the CPM’s face in Gujarat, has ensured the presence of leaders like Brinda Karat, Prakash Karat and Sitaram Yechury during the campaign for the ensuing Assembly elections in the state. “Brinda was present at a rally attended by around 10,000 people,” Mehta said.

People, especially slum dwellers, have realised that the Congress and BJP “are addressing the rich and the middle class. If the price of essential commodities increase, it will affect the slum dwellers the most,’’ he said.

Surprisingly, Mehta takes pride in never losing his deposit. This time, he is confident of polling more votes than previous years.

“The fact that the people are with me, they come out of their houses to listen to me and also attend rallies of Karat and Yechury means that they are looking for an alternative,” said Mehta. He discusses with the people pressing issues like price rise, deteriorating living conditions and corruption in the Congress and BJP.

“I do not run a campaign against an individual, but believe in targeting wrong doings and wrong policies which are not pro-poor.’’
Mehta will contest BJP and Congress candidates Vibhavari Dave and Rajesh Joshi respectively, who got tickets because of a sizeable Brahmin population in the area.

 “`Both parties fielded candidates based on population combination. None are talking about work or decisions they want to implement if elected,’’ Mehta said.