Rajkot: Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi's former constituency Rajkot-2 is under
a determined assault by the Congress in what promises to be a keen tussle between
the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the main Opposition party in the
December 12 Assembly elections.
Congress has fielded Kashmira Nathwani, daughter of Chiman Bhai Shukla, one of the
prominent leaders of the erstwhile 'Jan Sangh' in Saurashtra region, to take on
senior BJP leader Vajubhai Vala, a former state party president and Finance Minister
in the key constituency.
Modi had won the seat in a byelection in the year 2001 by over 14,000 votes after
Vala, a four-time winner from the constituency, vacated it to ensure a "safe seat"
for the Chief Minister, who had taken over the reins of the state from Keshubhai
Patel after a spate of defeats in local body polls and criticism over the handling
of the situation in the wake of the killer quake.
This time, Modi has shifted to Maninagar constituency of Ahmedabad.
Vala, veteran of many a poll battle, shrugs off suggestions that a serious challenge
is at hand and is leaving nothing to chance and has embarked on a vigorous mass
contact programme.
The BJP leader has also slapped a massive Rs five crore-defamation suit against
Nathwani following allegations of corruption and land scandals.
Nathwani says she was yet to receive Vala's legal notice. She contends that Vala
should instead file the suit against Modi, who did not take him in his Cabinet in a
purported move to keep "tainted" people out.
Vala feels that the charges would not make any impact, as people of his constituency
were "educated".
BJP and Congress have been locked in a war of words, with the latter accusing Vala
of neglecting development of the city despite being a Member of Legislative Assembly
(MLA) for a number of years. There have not been enough trains from Rajkot despite
it being a premier city of Saurashtra.
The ruling party says that Vala had earned the nickname of 'paniwala mayor' for his
efforts to bring water to Rajkot when he was the head of the civic body.
Congress is banking on the support of 'bohana', 'brahmins' and the minorities, who
constitute a sizable number of the electorate, in its attempt to stage an upset for
the BJP.
Nathwani had contested the Assembly elections from the Constituency in 1998 as a
candidate of the erstwhile Rashtriya Janata Party (RJP) headed by Shankersingh
Vaghela.
In the byelection in the year 2001, Congress had fielded Ashwin Mehta, managing
director of a co-operative bank against Modi who won the seat by 14,000 votes.
PTI
