‘Will win with a margin of over 50,000 votes’
RADHANPUR: Alpesh Thakor is contesting his first assembly election, but the 40-year-old Other Backward Class (OBC) leader is no political rookie.
In alliance with the Congress, he is confident of upstaging the BJP’S rule of more than two decades in Gujarat.
He is also certain about winning his seat with a 50,000vote victory margin, which many feel is a tall order since Radhanpur has been a BJP bastion since 1998.
“I am going to win with a margin of 50,000 votes. Wait and watch. The BJP is trying to create ‘hawa’ that this is a tough contest, but I am not worried. They have a lot to lose and the bigger fear isn’t about losing a seat, but about the emergence of strong political opponents,” he told Hindustan Times on Monday in his constituency.
If he wins Radhanpur, with whatever margin, it will be a Congress victory after 22 years. The party’s previous victory was in 1985.
Thakor was touring Radhanpur in Patan district of northern Gujarat before polling on Thursday.
He stopped at villages seeking votes with confidence that comes from many years of electoral campaigns.
His confidence flows from the strong presence of Thakors in this constituency. Nearly 65,000 of the 250,000 voters belong to his community. The OBCS as a whole make up over 60% of the voters here.
“Modi saheb is an OBC leader only in name. What has he done for the community? He is the leader of mainstream elites and industrialists,” Thakor responded to a query if he sees himself as the face of OBCS in Gujarat after Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
In villages where Thakor stops for five minutes or so, he always reminds people of his community identity. He said 90% of Thakors are with him, especially youngsters and women.
“Remember your son and brother is contesting this time. I am fighting for you. What has the BJP done for us? Don’t let me down,” he said.
Thakor became a regional leader with his campaigns against illicit liquor and illiteracy, the two big evils in his community.
His outfit, Kshatriya Thakor Sena set up in 2011, is said to have an influence in 9,000 villages and is popular among women and youngsters.
But he emerged as a top-notch OBC leader last year, as a foil to the Patidar community’s stir for reservation in jobs and education. The OBCS believe the Patidar demand will eat into their quota.
The BJP has fielded another Thakor, a former Congressman, to split votes in Radhanpur. The party also hopes to consolidate other OBC votes, especially the other two backward castes: Chaudhary and Rabaris.
“A dominant leader of the Chaudharys, Shankar Chaudhary, BJP’S state minister, who also controls the biggest local co-operative dairy in the region, has been tasked by our party to ensure victory in Radhanpur. He will not lose. Alpesh Thakor is all talk and little action,” a local BJP leader said.
Thakor admitted that he could lose a chunk of Chaudhary vote because of Shankar Chaudhary, a veteran leader. But he is getting a helping hand from fellow Dalit leader Jignesh Mevani to corner both Dalit and Muslim votes in the constituency. Mevani held a joint rally with Thakor last week.
“Our vote goes to Alpeshbhai. He is one of us. If Lavinjibhai had stayed with the Congress, there might have been some quandary. Not now,” said Devabhai Thakore of Kalyanpura village, making an assessment of the contest between Alpesh Thakor and Lavinji Thakore of the BJP.
Others believe it will be close contest.
“Every 20-odd years, our constituency sees change. It was a Congress stronghold until 1985 and then went to an Independent before the BJP won in 1998. Maybe it’s time for the tide to turn. But that’s not just because Alpesh Thakor is a hot favourite,” Akshay Panchal, a restaurant owner and farmer, said.