Lok Sabha Elections 2024: In the ‘milk capital’, Congress pin hopes on disgruntled Kshatriyas to trounce BJP

Ahmedabad: A group of over a dozen youngsters, including a few minors, sat under a shade engrossed in their smartphones in Dedarda village of Anand district. Belonging to the Rajput community, they opened up after a little persuasion. Soon, they were freely venting out their anger against the BJP.

Credit: DH Graphic

One of them, Kishan Solanki (26) said, “Last time we voted for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, but not this time. The party has insulted the Kshatriyas by not removing Parshottam Rupala over his offensive remarks.”

Another youngster Sunil Bareya and others concurred. They all said this time they would vote for Amit Chavda, the Congress candidate and sitting MLA from Anklav, a neighbouring taluka. 

Anand is known as the ‘milk capital of India’ and home to dairy giant Amul. The district also is the birthplace of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, whose daughter Maniben Patel represented this seat for the very first time in 1957.

Once it was a Congress bastion, but the BJP, led by Modi’s popularity, has captured six out of seven Assembly constituencies in the Anand Lok Sabha constituency and won the LS seat for the past two terms. Over the years, the BJP has, like elsewhere in the state, outsmarted the Congress at all levels of governance.

Even the Amul Dairy is now ruled by BJP supporters. The sitting MP, Mitesh Patel, is locally famous for his ‘toor dal’ business.

Patel is facing a close contest with Congress’ Amit Chavda, who belongs to the Kshatriya community. This is also one of the seats where the Kshatriya community has a larger concentration, which has made this seat tricky for the BJP.

Out of 17.5 lakh voters, roughly 8.5 lakh are Kshatriyas – a majority of them categorised as Other Backward Classes – 3.5 lakh Muslims, 3 lakh influential Patidars and others, including upper caste communities, Other Backward Classes and Scheduled Castes. The seven Assembly seats are Khambhat, Borsad, Anklav, Umreth, Anand, Petlad and Sojitra.

On Friday, the BJP’s Mitesh Patel was campaigning in Napad Vanta in Borsad taluka. Sitting on a swing, he interacted with the locals and promised them help to resolve issues related to land acquisition. The land in this region is fertile and expensive. The region is dotted with lush green banana farms and other seasonal crops, in addition to successful dairy business. 

“There is no real protest against the BJP by the Kshatriya community. Those you may have encountered are from the Congress. We are winning comfortably,” Patel told DH at Napad. In 2019, he won by a nearly two-lakh margin. 

Harisinh Rathod, a resident of Napad Vanta, says, “We are Rajputs and with the BJP. Those who are opposing are OBC Rajput.”

A couple of kilometres away on the national highway, a banner was hung on the flyover close to Kanthariya village, announcing, “Any worker from the BJP should not enter the village...samast Kshatriya samaj.” Such posters are common in Kshatriya-dominated villages. But the BJP is unfazed. 

“There is no doubt that the protest is simmering. But we are not losing, as the agitation has given a chance to other communities, such as Scheduled Castes, to unite against Rajputs and support the BJP. SCs won’t forget how they are being treated by the Rajputs for riding horses and keeping handlebar moustaches, among other things that they think only Rajputs can do,” says a BJP leader belonging to an SC outfit.

Meanwhile, Congress’ Chavda is popular among the OBC Rajputs and attracting youngsters who had shifted to the BJP last time due to the “Modi wave”.

Chavda, one of the known Congress faces in Gujarat, hopes to win riding on the Kshatriya agitation, the popularity of his family as his late grandfather Ishwarbhai Chavda was a five-time MP from the constituency, and caste factors taking shape as the state goes to polls on May 7.