Kutch (Gujarat): With Gujarat assembly elections round the corner, political experts have underlined that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) could emerge as a major force in Kutch, a region largely ignored by traditional parties, BJP and Congress, over the years. In a special conversation with ETV Bharat, political expert Chandravadanbhai Pattani said Kutch has largely seen keen contests between the Congress and the BJP so far.
Given AAP's entry into the state politics, the contest is becoming interesting, Chandravadanbhai said and added that the successive governments in Gujarat have ignored Kutch region. “It was not attended the way this region should have been taken care of. The border area is not developing as it should,” he added.
The political expert said that drinking water is the immediate issue that has not been taken care of. “It is claimed that Narmada water has been delivered, but drinking water is still a problem in many places. We have no means of irrigation and agriculture,” he said. Chandravadanbhai said that Bhuj assembly seat has lacked a local representative for the last 10 years and they have to depend on outside representatives.
AAP representative Nimaben is being counted among the top contenders for the seat in the upcoming assembly elections likely in December. Chandravadanbhai said that in Gandhidham too, the BJP is likely to face the anti-incumbency factor. Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Kutch 2-3 times.
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On the other hand, AAP's Arvind Kejriwal has visited Kutch twice. Congress has a presence in Kutch too, but its leaders have not reached here yet. Political expert Dharamshi Maheshwari said that out of six assembly seats in Kutch, 5 seats are with BJP now and one seat is with Congress, but it is too early to say which party will emerge victorious. Ku
“The candidates have not been declared yet. Only the Aam Aadmi Party candidate has been announced in Mandvi. If seen this way, even though BJP has been getting more seats for many years, but rural areas in Kutch have been the fortress of Congress. The BJP is dominant in the urban areas,” he said.
Maheshwari said that the BJP and Congress are likely to win three seats each in Kutch. “The seat of Gandhidham is inclined in favour of the BJP because, the Muslim voters are divided here. Bhuj and Mandvi seats can also go to BJP,” he said. Maheshwari said that three factors will play an important role in the assembly election - religion, caste and face.
He however said: “The Aam Aadmi Party has also entered into competition, but there are no chances of it getting a seat. Kutch has 6 seats in the Legislative Assembly. There are Assembly seats at Bhuj, the capital of Kutch, Mandvi-Mundra, Abdasa in West Kutch and Gandhidham, Anjar and Rapar in East Kutch."
As per data, there are a total of 16,19,400 voters in Kutch, of which 8,38,504 are male voters while 7,80,884 are women voters. Ahir, Scheduled Caste and Muslim communities have a higher number of voters in the district followed by voters from Rabari, Brahmin, Leuva Patel, Kadwa Patel and Kshatriya communities.
