Gujarat’s cooperative model of marginal farmers pooling in small resources to generate large-scale production and become self-reliant with ownership control has made an invaluable contribution to dairy and agriculture development across the country. The same model became an inspiration for Banaskantha district’s cash-strapped Congress MLA Geniben Nagaji Thakor when locals nudged her to take the big dive and contest elections.
In her 28-year-long political career, Thakor holds an impressive winning strike rate in local panchayat and municipal body elections, having experienced losses only twice in the Assembly elections. She told the villagers if they wanted her to stand for national elections, she would not just require their votes but also notes (money) for campaigning.
“Gujarat is Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home ground, and the BJP has a stronghold in the state. It is not easy to contest elections on an Opposition ticket, especially when one has no money,” she told Outlook.
Of Gujarat’s 33 districts, Banaskantha holds the rare distinction of being a Congress-supporting seat. Barring the Lok Sabha, the local Zilla Parishad, municipal bodies and the MLA belong to the Congress party.
Thakor said the district has a strong anti-BJP sentiment as villagers were weary of the BJP’s dominance and its promotion of members of only one caste. “People want things to change. The entire government machinery, including employees, works to the BJP’s advantage. And the BJP works for the Chaudhari caste, which gets job postings and all other benefits from contracts to election tickets.”
Thakor, who belongs to the Other Backward Classes (OBC), was up against the upper caste Chaudhari clan, which wields enormous influence and money power in Banaskantha.
She requested the villagers to participate in her Lok Sabha campaign’s planning strategy and booth management by contributing funds starting at as little as Rs 11. Her team incorporated the instant mode of the UPI payment system in the election posters and pasted stickers with the QR code across Banaskantha’s 14 talukas. The strategy helped her with crowdfunding raising an estimated Rs 30 lakh and also backed her as a people’s candidate.
On poll day, voters turned out in large numbers, with Banaskantha witnessing a record-high 68.44 per cent turnout, the highest in Gujarat. Thakor won with over six lakh votes, defeating BJP’s Rekhaben Chaudhari by a margin of more than 30,000 votes. Her victory, although by a modest margin, is remarkable as Banaskantha became the sole Parliamentary seat for the Congress in more than three decades.
“There has been no Congress presence in Gujarat for the last 29 years. But Geniben’s win has changed the norm, it has revitalised our workers and infused a winning spirit,” said Congress worker Pradeep Sindhav. He said the BJP has won all the elections in Gujarat because government agencies work for the party. “Without the support of government machinery, BJP candidates will not be able to win a single local-level election. People have realised that the BJP is only concerned about winning seats, it is not bothered about them,” he said, assuring that the results of the 2027 assembly elections in Gujarat would be different for the Congress.
Thakor says as an MP she wants to continue her work for the education of girls and youth employment. In the past, she faced criticism for supporting controversial proposals at the local panchayat like restricting mobile phones for girls and banning inter-caste marriages as well as making parental consent mandatory for marriage registration. Thakor, however, said she supported gender equality. “Our concern is the welfare of youth, and we want them to focus their energy on education and jobs instead of getting trapped in early marriage,” she clarified. For now, Thakor is still absorbing the thrill of being the only candidate for Congress in Gujarat who has secured victory for her people and party.
(This appeared in the print as 'The Giant Killer')
