Gujarat Assembly Elections: Likely BJP candidates from Morbi

The recent bridge collapse in which 135 people were killed has put the spotlight on the Patidar-dominated constituency of Morbi in Gujarat.

It will be interesting to see how people will vote after the tragedy.

Though the Patidar-dominated Morbi Assembly seat is considered a stronghold of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the poll equations this time may change due to many factors, including the recent bridge tragedy, political observers say.

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While the ruling BJP has not declared its candidates yet, many believe it could come down to two people in particular- Brijesh Merja and Kanti Amrutiya.

Currently, the BJP is ruling the Morbi Municipality, District Panchayat and Taluka Panchayat. The Morbi Assembly seat falls under the Kutch Lok Sabha constituency, represented by Dalit BJP MP Vinod Chavda.

In the 2017 Assembly elections, BJP's Kanti Amrutiya, a five-time MLA, lost to Brijesh Merja who was then a Congress member, thanks to the Patidar quota agitation. He is now a minister in the state cabinet.

Morbi witnessed some interesting political developments in the last decade, including the Patidar quota agitation spearheaded by Hardik Patel and the defeat of BJP's Amrutiya, who was a five-term MLA.

Amrutiya, better known as Kanabhai, had won from the Morbi Assembly seat in 1995, 1998, 2002, 2007 and 2012. In 2017, Merja defeated Amrutiya by a margin of 3,419 votes, riding on the anti-BJP wave in Morbi, one of the key centres of the agitation. In 2012, Amrutiya had beaten Merja by 2,760 votes.

Both of them are Patidars. Merja, considered a suave and learned leader, left Congress in 2020 and joined the ruling BJP. In the subsequent by-election, he managed to defeat Congress's old-timer Jayantilal Patel by 4,649 votes.

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In the new cabinet constituted last year under the chief ministership of Bhupendra Patel, Merja was appointed Minister of State with independent charge of panchayat as well as skill, labour and employment departments.

When the suspension bridge on the Machchhu river in Morbi collapsed on October 30 evening, Amrutiya hogged the limelight as videos showing him jumping into the water to rescue the victims went viral on social media platforms.

Though the BJP has not declared its candidates yet, political experts believe it will once again field Merja and not Amrutiya, despite his brave act and popularity among the masses.
"Most of the people in Morbi want to see Amrutiya as the BJP's candidate. But even if Merja is selected, the BJP's core electorate will eventually vote for him, because for them what ultimately matters is the party symbol," local political analyst Ravindra Trivedi was quoted in a PTI report.

The candidate selection will be crucial this time because the winning margin in Morbi remains thin, he said.

"Though Merja's performance as a minister was good and appreciated by the BJP leadership, Amrutiya's popularity among the masses is much higher. But, the chances of Merja and Amrutiya getting the ticket are 70 per cent and 30 per cent respectively," political analyst Padsumbia said.

The erstwhile Morbi princely state was called the 'Paris of Saurashtra region' before Independence, thanks to its visionary Jadeja rulers. Today, it is famous for the ceramic and clock industries, providing employment to more than five lakh people who come here from across the country for jobs.

Morbi has nearly 2.90 lakh voters, including 80,000 Patidars, 35,000 Muslims, 30,000 Dalits, 30,000 Sathwara community members (from the Other Backward Class category), 12,000 Ahirs (OBC), and 20,000 Thakor-Koli community members (OBC).

(With PTI inputs)