Tribal candidate to make dent in votes of major parties

When a young draftsman working in an industrial unit here was nominated as a candidate for the Lok Sabha elections by an upcoming tribal outfit, he turned to the virtual world to raise funds.

Pankaj Lallubhai Patel, 36, has been working for the rights of tribals in this part of south Gujarat, where tribals are upset at their lands being acquired for various infrastructure projects and the burgeoning industry.

"I do not have funds to contest the election, so I opted for crowdfunding. I have raised Rs 32-33,000 from crowdfunding," Patel told DH.

Patel cites the land acquisition for infrastructure initiatives such as the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor, Bharat Mala project that entails building up a network of highways, as the key campaign issues for his Bhartiya Tribal Party, floated by Chhotubhai Vasava, who wields considerable influence in this tribal region.

The Congress had backed BTP candidates in the 2017 assembly elections in the region but did not agree for a tie-up in the Lok Sabha polls where stakes are high.

BJP, Congress all the way

In 2009, Congress candidate Kishan Patel of the Congress had defeated K C Patel of the BJP, and the Congress party had formed the UPA-II government at the Centre.

K C Patel turned the tables on Kishan Patel in 2014 when Modi romped home to power. Chaudhari is a two-term sitting MLA of the Congress who managed to win the 2017 polls by a thin margin of 170 votes. Congress is riding on the hope of making a further dent in the BJP's winning margin that had shrunk to 1.39 lakh in 2017 state polls from 2.08 lakh in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.

In the current Lok Sabha elections, BJP’s Patel is in the fray, while Congress has fielded Jitubhai Chaudhari. But the contest is queered by the entry of Kishorbhai Ramanbhai Patel of the BSP and Pankaj Patel of the BTP.

"Pankaj is known to work among the tribals. He has struck a chord with the tribals in the region through his provocative speeches," Nanubhai Patel, a 65-year-old farmer from Pankaj’s Degam village told DH.

BJP’s Patel had to face the ire of voters for playing the disappearing act after getting elected in 2014. Pankaj may not win, but he is sure to make a dent in the votes of both the BJP and Congress candidates, Nanubhai said.

History and eminence

Parsis who fled the Arab land in the seventh century landed up in Udvada, which is about 25 km from here.

Rock star Freddie Mercury, India’s first Field Marshall Sam Maneckshaw and former prime minister late Morarji Desai have their roots in Valsad, which was earlier known as Bulsar. The parents of Freddie Mercury, whose original name was Farokh Bulsara named after the town Bulsar, migrated to Zanibar from here where the rock singer was born.

Similarly, Maneckshaw’s parents moved from Bulsar to Amritsar, where Sam was born. Desai, who became prime minister in 1977, was born here in 1896.