Gujarat Election 2022: Will AAP's CM face Isudan Gadhvi face caste vote conflict in Khambhalia?
AAP chief and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has claimed that Gadhvi will win with a record margin. Both Congress and BJP workers have claimed that the contest is between their two parties and the AAP will finish third in the fight.
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FollowIn the upcoming Gujarat Assembly election 2022, the contest in Khambhalia has emerged as one to watch out for as the Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP) chief ministerial candidate Isudan Gadhvi has decided to contest from this seat where he is locked in a keen triangular fight with incumbent Congress MLA Vikram Madam and BJP's Mulubhai Bera.
Gadhvi, once a popular Gujarati news anchor before entering politics, enjoys a good image and has emerged as his party's main campaigner in the state but social issues in the constituency pose a challenge to him.
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Both Madam, a seasoned politician and also a former Lok Sabha MP, and Bera, a former state government minister, come from the Ahir community, which is the largest caste in the seat where Muslim votes are also significant.
According to poll watchers, caste is likely to play a significant role in deciding voting preference and the AAP leader, whose community Gadhvi is numerically much less, has a disadvantage and Muslims are likely to prefer the Congress.
However, Gadhvi has projected himself as the son of a farmer who will work for everyone and not pander to community identities.
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AAP chief and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has claimed that Gadhvi will win with a record margin. Both Congress and BJP workers have claimed that the contest is between their two parties and the AAP will finish third in the fight.
However, AAP members assert that the two traditionally big parties are "jolted" by their party's entry. The BJP had won the seat in 2007 and 2012 but lost to the Congress in a bypoll in 2014.
The opposition party retained the seat in 2017. Khambhalia falls in Devbhoomi Dwarka district, a part of Saurashtra region which goes to the polls on December 1 in the first phase of the Gujarat polls. The second phase is scheduled for December 5 and the counting of votes is due on December 8.
(With inputs from PTI)
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