Gujarat Election- Sangram Rathwa and Rajendra Rathwa
– Photo: Amar Ujala
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The results of the Gujarat assembly elections are out. This time the Bharatiya Janata Party has created a new record. In Gujarat, which has 182 assembly seats, 156 BJP candidates won the elections. The Congress suffered the most. The Congress came straight down to 17 from 77 seats. Means Congress had to bear the loss of 60 seats. At the same time, this time only five candidates of the Aam Aadmi Party, which claimed to form the government, could win the elections. The SP candidate won one seat, while the remaining three seats were won by independent candidates.
The BJP had fielded Rajendrasinh Mohansinh Rathwa from Chhota Udepur assembly seat in Chhota Udepur district. In front of him was Sangram Singh Naranbhai Rathwa of Congress. Talking about the result of this election, here BJP candidate Rajendrasinh Mohansinh Rathwa defeated Sangramsinh Naranbhai Rathwa of INC by 29,450 votes. BJP candidate got 75,129 votes while Congress got 45,679 votes here. AAP stood third, its candidate Professor Arjun Rathwa got 43,880 votes, which was 25.25 percent of the total votes. Apart from this, there were two candidates whose deposits were also forfeited. NOTA got 5,093 votes here.
Congress got victory in 2017
The Congress had won the Chhota Udepur assembly seat in the 2017 assembly elections. In this election, Congress had made Mohan Bhai Rathwa its candidate from this seat. He defeated BJP’s Jashubhai Rathwa by just 1093 votes. Here a total of four candidates were in the fray. Apart from these two, the deposits of the other two candidates were forfeited. In 2012 too, the Congress had won this seat. At the same time, earlier in 2002 and 2007, BJP had won from here. In the 14 elections held so far, the Chhota Udepur seat has gone to the Congress account 11 times. Whereas, BJP has won thrice. Once the Swatantra Party and once the Congress (O) has won.
Congress has been dominant in tribal-dominated Chhota Udepur district
Chhota Udaipur, a tribal-dominated seat, has traditionally been considered Congress. In the 2017 elections, the BJP had won Sankheda and the Congress had won Chhota Udaipur and Jetpur. However, in the 2022 assembly elections, the real issues of tribals in these ST seats have been secondary. Till now Congress ruled this entire tribal belt here because of Mohanbhai and Narayanbhai. The breakup of this pair had an impact on the traditional tribal seats of the Congress and the BJP won here.
Here the friend was the political enemy of the friend
Chhota Udepur, a tribal-dominated seat of Gujarat, saw a unique contest in this election. The Congress was at a loss in the fight between the two Rathwa candidates. One had got the ticket, while the other had left the hand and joined the BJP. Both the Rathwas, who once sought ticket from Congress, were face to face in the election field. The story did not end here. The Aam Aadmi Party had also placed bets on a candidate with the same surname. Rajendra Rathwa is the son of Mohan Singh Bhai Rathwa, a 10-time Congress MLA.
Actually, Mohan Bhai wanted ticket for his son from Congress only. Instead of trusting Mohan’s son, Congress had given ticket to Sangram, son of Rajya Sabha MP Narayanbhai Rathwa. Mohan Singh Bhai and Narayan Bhai Rathwa are not only the faces of the Congress in Chhota Udepur and the entire tribal belt, but are also known as good friends among themselves. Thus, the electoral contest between the BJP and the Congress was concentrated in Chhota Udepur between the two leaders who were close friends.
