With Vaghela out, BJP hopes to improve tally in central Gujarat

PANCHMAHAL/KHEDA/CHHOTA UDAIPUR: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) hopes to improve its tally in central Gujarat in the ongoing Assembly elections, convinced that former chief minister Shankarsinh Vaghela’s decision to quit the Congress will work in its favour.

Party leaders said they were also banking on candidates who had switched over from the Congress to the BJP and a consolidation against the Patidar agitation in the region, often referred to as the KHAM (Kshatriya-Harijan-Adivasi-Muslim) belt.

The BJP, which won 35 of the 61 seats in the region comprising the districts of Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Anand, Kheda, Panchmahal, Dahod and Chhota Udaipur, is working overtime to gain more seats this time.

Union minister Narendra Singh Tomar of the BJP, camping in the area for more than 90 days, is confident that his party will win at least 40 seats.

“I have travelled across the region and our support base is intact. The congress doesn’t have their workers here,” he said.

Some Congress leaders in Kalol agreed that the lack of leaders would affect the party’s electoral fortunes. “All our strong candidates and local leaders were hijacked by the BJP. The party could have easily won if those candidates had contested from our side. But still the fight is tough and could go any way,” a Congress leader in Kalol said.