Congress is especially confident of the support of Leuva Patels, many of whom are settled around the Charotar region.
AHMEDABAD: The epicentre of Patidar-Thakor agitation, north Gujarat, will vote on Thursday, as will central Gujarat, which has a number of urban seats, both of which are considered BJP strongholds. While Congress is banking on anti-incumbency, influence of Patidar leader Hardik Patel and Thakor leader Alpesh Thakor on voters and traditional hold in the Charotar region, the BJP is counting on sustained support in urban areas in central Gujarat and a consolidation of non-Patidar and OBCs in north Gujarat.
Congress had several of its sitting MLAs in these areas, many of whom have defected to BJP. The PM has already addressed two rallies in Banaskantha, a hub of OBCs that has always seen a keen contest.
"This is a good thing for BJP. The faces the Congress has put up are all new and have less organisational support. Our ground work and 'bhaichaara' (brotherhood) meetings to bring other communities to vote for us are going on well," said a BJP leader, who did not wish to be identified.
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n the Congress camp, members said that hundreds of PAAS (Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti, led by Hardik Patel) workers have moved to north Gujarat to mobilise Patidar votes for Congress candidates.
"Our main outreach mechanism is through WhatsApp and we are sincerely appealing to people of our community to vote for Congress for the sake of rights and dignity," said Mehul Patel, a PAAS volunteer.
PM Modi's hometown of Vadnagar is also part of the politically crucial Mehsana district in north Gujarat, which has seven assembly seats. In the six districts of north Gujarat — Banaskantha, Patan, Sabarkantha, Mehsana, Gandhinagar and Aravalli — the Patels may end up being the decisive voters.
Congress is especially confident of the support of Leuva Patels, many of whom are settled around the Charotar region. "Even if it is just this time, the Patidar vote will go against BJP. That is the level of anger," said Rahul Patel of Mehsana.
In central Gujarat, BJP had won 37 of the 61 seats in 2012. Of these, it won 26 with a margin of over 10%. In Charotar region, BJP hopes that former CM Shankarsinh Vaghela's decision to quit Congress would help it improve its tally. In Vaghela's own constituency of Kapadvanj there is a four-cornered contest, with an NCP candidate and a BJP rebel fighting as an independent in the fray.
"The impact of KHAM (Kshatriya-Harijan-Adivasi-Muslim combine targeted by Congress in the 1980s) isprevalent even today, with several Congress households having at least one government job," said Badal Patel, a poultry farmer in Anand.
"But even in Congress strongholds such as Borsad, which have never voted for BJP, people want change. So anything can happen," he said. Last week BJP president Amit Shah had addressed two public meetings in Central Gujarat, including one in Borsad.
