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| 386 Mehsana booths declared hyper-sensitive | ||||
| Press Trust of India | ||||
| Mehsana (Gujarat), November 29: Fear grips Dasaj village of Unjha constituency in this north Gujarat district as countdown to the crucial Assembly polls begins.
The communal divide cannot be more apparent than in this remote riot-hit hamlet, where a fifth of the population is Muslim. They do not dare to step into Hindu dominated areas despite round-the-clock police patrolling every 50 feet. Worse, the Muslims say they will not vote if their polling booth falls in the Hindu area and have demanded a separate booth for the minorities. Things are not as bad in other areas of Mehsana district, comprising seven assembly constituencies, but the BJP cannot bank on the votes of the minorities, several of whom did vote for the party in the last two elections. What it can take solace from in a clear Congress-BJP fight, throwing over 20 other candidates out of the race, is the fact that the Muslims constitute only seven per cent of the votebank. As many as 386 of the 1,358 polling booths have been identified as sensitive and hyper-sensitive in Mehsana, where 72 people were killed during the recent riots. "We have asked for 20 companies of paramilitary forces. Some are already patrolling sensitive areas including Kadi and Unjha," says Mehsana Superintendent of Police A K Sharma. However, Jayanti Barot, Rajya Sabha MP hailing from Mehsana contends there is no (no) polarisation saying such pictures are created by the media and outsiders. Barot claims the violence will not have an impact on the votes during the elections in which security and development issues will dominate. "The Muslims of Gujarat live peacefully. Only some of them are fundamentalist and cause problems." Sharma says there is no law and order problem and all those displaced during the violence have their names on voting lists in the district with a population of around 12 lakh, dominated by Patels and Thakores. In Dasaj village of Unjha with 1,72,855 voters, ex-sarpanch Hayat Khan says there is panic in the air with the polls nearing while Purshottam Patel, husband of the present Sarpanch Shivi Patel says there is tension-ridden peace. Both have their own stories to tell about a dargah and temple. Two persons, one of each community, had been killed in the violence in this village. In Kadi, where Gujarat Finance Minister Nitin Patel has been sitting MLA for ten years, Congress is upbeat about the chances of its candidate Baldeb Thakore. It claims that the absence of Janata Dal in the fray this time will ensure the BJP's defeat in the contest between a Patel and a Thakore. Suresh Kadam, who runs a silver shop in this small town, does not feel the Minister had anything to do with the riots and will be returned "because he has given roads, water and electricity." Right across, Hanif, also a shop owner, says he has been voting for Nitin "but this time the riots are on our minds... When in Delhi the BJP says Godhra will be an issue, how can we forget it." In Mehsana and Unjha constituencies it is a contest between Patels. While State Minister for Transport Narayan Patel from Unjha is pitted against Jai Prakash Patel of Congress, another BJP sitting MLA Khoda Patel is fighting Jiva Patel in Mehsana. The Congress claims that the Scheduled Castes, the third largest group in Mehsana, where a majority of people are engaged in agriculture and dairy farming, will not vote for the BJP. The BJP in turn says development of the region will bring it back to power. Former Chief Minister Keshubhai Patel while attending an inaugural function in Mehsana, where a Lok Sabha by-poll is also being held on December 12, did not mention Godhra but spoke of the "good" performance of the BJP Government and the threat of terrorism. Life in towns of Mehsana goes on, but whether Godhra is a poll issue or not, the polls are raking up bad memories. | ||||
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URL: http://www.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=17255
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