Gujarat’s State (Urban Development & Urban Housing) minister Vinod (Vinoo) Moradia has been a busy man in the run up to the first phase of the Gujarat Assembly Elections in Katargaam. From door-to-door campaigning to holding meetings with the Prajapati community, the two-time BJP MLA from Katargaam has been leaving no stone unturned to retain the crucial assembly seat. In 2017, Moradia won the seat with a nearly 80,000 margin over the Congress. Coming in the background of the Patidar agitation, the victory was significant from Katargaam, a seat dominated by the affluent Patidars, Saurastrians and Prajapatis and a hotspot for the Patidar movement.
“I am confident that the BJP will win once again. We are not worried,” a BJP leader told Outlook. However, the entry of a new player - the Aam Aadmi Party - has left political analysts unsure of a clear BJP win. AAP, which has fielded its star candidate and Gujarat unit chief Gopal Italia from the seat, seems confident of a victory, not just in Katargaam but in other key seats of Surat as well such as Varacha, another Patidar-dominated seat where it has fielded Alpesh Kathiria.
Italia, 33, said that the people of Katargaam were tired of the “BJP’s oppression” and the “Congress' incompetence”.
“We are talking about the real issues of the people in the constituency such as employment, corruption,” Italia told Outlook in between his door two door campaign in Katargaam, home to to the world’s biggest diamond cutting, polishing and manufacturing hub in the world. A prominent PAAS leader who came into the limelight in 2017 after he hurled a shoe Minister of State for Home Pradipsinh Jadeja alleging corruption, Italia said that the Patidar community was with the BJP this time. “But we are not just banking on Patidars. The promises we are making benefit every section of society,” Italia said.
He added that over 17 lakh people from across Gujarat had voted to choose Isudan Gadhvi as the Chief Ministerial face. “It would be inaccurate to say that all those 17 lakh people were from the same community, class, caste or gender. Isudan was a neutral choice”.
However, it isn’t just the Patidar vote that will decide the fate of AAP and BJP. Surat-based analyst and journalist Naresh Variya stated that the OBC and especially the Prajapathi community’s vote would play the decisive role.
“Earlier the Prajapatis had voted for BJP. But this time, the Congress has a good chance in Katargaam where it is the only party with a Prajapathi candidate, Kalpesh Variya,” he said.
The analyst predicted a three-way fight between the Congress, BJP and AAP. “No matter which way the Prajapatis vote, the BJP stands to lose,” he noted.
Dubbed as the “diamond constituency”, Surat's Katargam assembly seat has been dominated by Saurashtra residents, Prajapatis and foreigners and natives of Surat. While the Patidars are the biggest (and richer) caste group, Prajapatis form the second largest voter base. The seat has traditionally been with the BJP with Nanubhai Vanani winning the seat with 43,272 votes in 2012 before Moradia.
However, there has been discontent in the Surat region against the ruling party, especially in Katargaam where Moradia has been accused of inefficiency. While Moradia’s reign has seen developmental work at a steady pace, his failure to act against illegal construction, stray cattle problem, regular traffic snarls and corruption.
“There is also discontent in Surat about the mishandling of Covid-19 pandemic and the 2019 Surat fire which killed 23 students. With most of the accused officials in the case out on bail, there is anger among the victims’ families and locals,” Variya added.
Yet another section in Katargaam that is posing a threat to BJP is the working class.
Ahed of the first phase, the Diamond Workers Union Gujarat (DWUG) has urged workers including factory workers and artisans involved in the cutting and polishing industries, to boycott the BJP in the assembly election. They have instead been urged to vote for parties that are willing to resolve their long-standing issues.
Nitinbhai, a Dalit diamond factory worker from Surat told Outlook that there was no job security for the 600,000 odd workers involved in the diamond industry. The growing number of suicides among diamond factory workers has led diamond workers’ unions to raise the demand for compensation from the government. But the ruling party has remained unresponsive to the demands.
“We work over 12 hours a day, six days a week and get paid an average of Rs 12,000. There is no medical benefits, PF or ECI,” Nitinbhai stated. Ramshbhai, another diamond factory worker, said that the workers had been organising to discuss their issues and will only vote for the party that is willing to listen to them. “We want to give Kejriwal a chance since BJP and Congress have not cared about us”.
AAP has raised the issue of workers rights in Surat and stated that its policies would help strengthen the diamond industry. “Any industry needs three things to move forward, good infrastructure, security, and support from the government. All three things are lacking here. There is no structural support from the government,” Italia told Outlook. He added that government officials regularly harass those in the industry for bribes, there no parking space, no cleanliness in the industrial areas and illegal. “The BJP is a party for the rich, it ignores the working class in the area,” he said.
Surat Diamond Association secretary Ramji Madani agreed that the working class vote might swing toward AAP. But he remained certain that affluent industrialists, manufacturers and diamond merchants were still with the BJP.
In 2017, Surat had seen a number of protests against Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bill, especially against the three percent tax levied on polished diamonds. Mavani stated that the government had since solved those issues. “The party has been responsive to the needs of the industry. There was an issue about GST but that has been solved,” Mavani said. He also denied AAP’s allegations of the industry facing problems from the government.
“However, the removal of the professional tax levied on workers of the industry has been a long standing demand of the workers as well as the unions and continues to stand,” he added.
