Christians to be a deciding factor in Dang
Melvyn Thomas, TNN Nov 29, 2012, 11.14PM IST
Melvyn Thomas, TNN Nov 29, 2012, 11.14PM IST
SURAT: Christians in the state may have a little or no say during the assembly elections, but there is one constituency in the tribal-dominated south Gujarat where this minority community could become a deciding factor.
Out of the total 1.44 lakh voters in the newly formed 173-Dang assembly constituency, there are 36,450 tribal electorates from Christian community and 46,659 from Kanbi community. There are 29,934 voters from Bhil, 19,475 from Varli and 3,237 from Muslim communities in this constituency. Earlier, Dang and Vansad in Valsad formed the assembly segment with 1.99 lakh voters until the constituency's boundary was redrawn by Election Commission of India.
Looking at the vote sharing percentage in the Dang assembly constituency, the tribal Christians could be a deciding factor with 26 per cent vote share though Kanbis may have a larger vote share of 31 per cent.
In 2002 assembly elections, Dang-Vansda assembly constituency had elected Congress candidate Madhubhai Bhoye for the fourth consecutive term defeating BJP's Vijay Patel with a margin of 10,147 votes. In 2007 assembly elections, the 1.99 lakh electorates in the Dang-Vansda constituency voted in favour of Vijay Patel. He won with a margin of over 7,000 votes. This ended the two-decade long dominance of Congress.
This time around the Congress and the BJP have given tickets to non-Christian candidates. The BJP has renominated the sitting BJP MLA Vijay Patel as its candidate while Congress has given ticket to Mangal Gavit. However, Gujarat Parivartan Pary (GPP) has fielded a Christian Yogesh Bhoye.
Political pundits said Dang district has come a long way after the communal unrest against Christians in 1998. In 2006, Subir in Dang district was in the limelight following the anti-conversion movement by the saffron groups.
In the 2010 district and taluka panchayat elections, the BJP had offered tickets to five Christian candidates from Subir, including two women.
"There is always a benefit for certain community which dominates a region like Christians do in Dang. This increase the bargaining capacity and speeds up development. There is a massive change in the district after the 1998 communal riots. Now, the tribal residents in Dang support those who talk of development," said Satyakam Joshi, associate professor, Centre for Social Studies ( CSI).
Joshi said, "Dang is the only assembly constituency among the total 182 in Gujarat where you have Christian voters. But over the last many years polarization has definitely increased in Dang. In a family, one could find a brother following Hinduism and his other sibling Christianity."
A Jesuit priest said, "Christian voters here will vote for development. There is no fundamentalism whatsoever in the Dang district."
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Out of the total 1.44 lakh voters in the newly formed 173-Dang assembly constituency, there are 36,450 tribal electorates from Christian community and 46,659 from Kanbi community. There are 29,934 voters from Bhil, 19,475 from Varli and 3,237 from Muslim communities in this constituency. Earlier, Dang and Vansad in Valsad formed the assembly segment with 1.99 lakh voters until the constituency's boundary was redrawn by Election Commission of India.
Looking at the vote sharing percentage in the Dang assembly constituency, the tribal Christians could be a deciding factor with 26 per cent vote share though Kanbis may have a larger vote share of 31 per cent.
In 2002 assembly elections, Dang-Vansda assembly constituency had elected Congress candidate Madhubhai Bhoye for the fourth consecutive term defeating BJP's Vijay Patel with a margin of 10,147 votes. In 2007 assembly elections, the 1.99 lakh electorates in the Dang-Vansda constituency voted in favour of Vijay Patel. He won with a margin of over 7,000 votes. This ended the two-decade long dominance of Congress.
This time around the Congress and the BJP have given tickets to non-Christian candidates. The BJP has renominated the sitting BJP MLA Vijay Patel as its candidate while Congress has given ticket to Mangal Gavit. However, Gujarat Parivartan Pary (GPP) has fielded a Christian Yogesh Bhoye.
Political pundits said Dang district has come a long way after the communal unrest against Christians in 1998. In 2006, Subir in Dang district was in the limelight following the anti-conversion movement by the saffron groups.
In the 2010 district and taluka panchayat elections, the BJP had offered tickets to five Christian candidates from Subir, including two women.
"There is always a benefit for certain community which dominates a region like Christians do in Dang. This increase the bargaining capacity and speeds up development. There is a massive change in the district after the 1998 communal riots. Now, the tribal residents in Dang support those who talk of development," said Satyakam Joshi, associate professor, Centre for Social Studies ( CSI).
Joshi said, "Dang is the only assembly constituency among the total 182 in Gujarat where you have Christian voters. But over the last many years polarization has definitely increased in Dang. In a family, one could find a brother following Hinduism and his other sibling Christianity."
A Jesuit priest said, "Christian voters here will vote for development. There is no fundamentalism whatsoever in the Dang district."
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