Call it the reverse swing. After years of backing the Congress, this predominantly Muslim village has decided to stand by the ‘‘saffronised’’ BJP.For the villagers, what matters is infrastructure — mainly pukka roads and power supply. And for that, they don’t mind rejecting the Congress’ Muslim candidate Mohammed Phansiwala. With its concrete roads and mineral water plant, prosperity is stamped all over Hathuran, which votes for the Bharuch Lok Sabha constituency. The community’s NRI connections also help. But what has brought things to a head this time is the poor state of four approach roads to the village.Leading the fight for infrastructure is deputy sarpanch Abbas Bodi, who’s determined that Muslim votes don’t go to the Congress at the cost of development. ‘‘Forget about the country’s future. I am worried only about my village, it is my first priority,’’ says Bodi, reacting to Congress slogan exhorting people to vote for that party and save the country. Hathuran has an Adivasi sarpanch but Bodi’s word seems to carry weight in the village. And that’s why the Muslims are listening.The four roads in question are two four-km stretches from Kosamba and Panoli, a two-and-half-km one from Mahuvej and a five-km one from Dhamund. These stretches make travelling to Hathuran a nightmare.‘‘We have made frequent representations at the taluka and zilla panchayat level, but Congress leaders have never responded, not even Ahmed Patel,’’ complains Bodi.This small village has a population of about 2,400 of which 1,500 are Muslims and the rest Adivasis. The Adivasis here predominantly work as labourers in sugarcane fields belonging to Muslims. The village courted infamy due to Adivasi labour unrest problem with their Muslim neighbours in the past. BJP Mangrol MLA Ganpat Vasava has already assured the village a grant for village roads, something which may swing the tide in his favour. ‘‘Practically speaking, we don’t expect a Congress victory. There’s no point in voting for them just because we are Muslims,’’ says a resident. ‘‘We want to teach them a lesson for taking us for granted,’’ he adds.But Hamid Manjara has something to say. ‘‘If we don’t get the roads after the election as the BJP is promising, we will have something to say to Bodi for he convinced us to make this choice,’’ he says, even as he sits in Bodi’s house with a few village elders.The demand for change is best summed up by Bodi when he says: ‘‘This is not about a Hindu or Muslim candidate. We only want a change for the better in our lives and the only political way is through sensible voting.’’
