Lok Sabha election: A bipolar contest with multilayered manifestations in Gujarat's Banaskantha
Banaskantha, the district bordering Pakistan, the contest is clearly bipolar with multilayered manifestations.
Traditionally a Congress bastion, Banaskantha was engulfed by the Modi wave in the 2013 Lok Sabha by-election and continues to remain with the party. BJP has fielded Rekha Chaudhary, granddaughter of Banas Dairy founder Galba Chaudhary. A mathematics professor herself, Rekha's husband Hitesh Chaudhary has been associated with BJP for some time and known to be close to Gujarat Assembly Speaker Shankar Chaudhary.
Of the seven assembly segments that form Banaskantha Lok Sabha constituency, the Thakor community constitute the highest number of 3.7 lakh followed by the Chaudhary community with 2.5 lakh population.
While Kshatriyas are around 57,000, the Rabari community are .42 lakh, Muslims are 95,000 and Patels approximately 40,000, largely around Palanpur. «I am Chaudhary,» winks Bhavesh Chadudhary, who runs a food joint operated by Banas Dairy at Deesa. «Of course, I will vote for Rekhaben.» Savouring an ice cream just outside the joint, two policemen in uniform however have a little complicated take on the elections, «There is a contest for sure, but don't you think that's good for democracy?» asks one.
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