Modi tries safest route to Assembly

Move over Rajkot-II, move in Maninagar. A predominantly middle-class Hindu locality with a traditional support-base for the BJP, Maninagar (...

Move over Rajkot-II, move in Maninagar. A predominantly middle-class Hindu locality with a traditional support-base for the BJP, Maninagar (Assembly constituency no 77) is probably the safest route to the House for caretaker Chief Minister Narendra Modi.

It’s a constituency Modi has been most familiar with. For many years, he has been a voter here and even stayed at the local RSS headquarters, Hegdewar Bhawan at Bhairawnath Road, during his stint as a pracharak. The Congress had last won it in 1985 and it has been a BJP bastion ever since.

As Kamlesh Patel, who has vacated the seat for Modi, puts it: ‘‘Any BJP candidate will win from this seat. Now that the Chief Minister is contesting from here, the BJP will win it with a record margin.’’

Story continues below this ad

Most wards of the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation in Maninagar have BJP councillors, including Opposition leader Dharmendra Shah, who represents Kankaria. BJP men had won the September 2000 municipal elections here even when the Congress wrested power at the AMC after 13 years.

The constituency has 3.7 lakh voters, with businessmen, traders and the salaried class constituting an overwhelming majority. There are some slums on the periphery, but the voters there are not the deciding factor.

Muslim voters number not more than 15,000 and are concentrated in Millatnagar locality. It is only this area in Maninagar that witnessed violence during the post-Godhra riots. The police had to open fire here on at least six occasions in March and April.

The BJP has won the Maninagar seat thrice in a row since the 1990 elections.

Story continues below this ad

• In 1990, Kamlesh Patel won the seat for the first time, defeating his nearest Janata Dal rival by over 25,000 votes. Congress sitting MLA Ramlal Ruplal finished third.

• In 1995, Kamlesh Patel defeated C. Hirachand (Congress) by a margin of over 35,000 votes.

• In 1998, Kamlesh Patel defeated GPCC secretary Vijay Kella by over 39,000 votes.