Samajwadi Party candidate from Kutiana, Kandhal Jadeja, throughout his marketing campaign in Teri Village forward of the Gujarat Assembly election.
| Photo Credit: Vijay Soneji
‘Kaam boleche’ (work speaks) blares the loudspeaker atop an SUV because it leads the motorcade of strongman and two-time lawmaker, Kandhal Jadeja, into Teri village of Porbandar district.
His Assembly constituency, Kutiyana, is barely 40 km from Mahatma Gandhi’s birthplace of Porbandar however the constituency is extra well-known for its controversial legislator.
Son of late Santokben Jadeja, whose underworld actions impressed the Hindi film Godmother, Kandhal bhai, as he’s popularly identified, managed to win twice (2012 and 2017) as a Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) candidate.
But he’s contesting the present election on the bicycle image of the Samajwadi Party. He was denied a ticket by NCP after he voted for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Rajya Sabha election during which Congress chief late Ahmed Patel was a candidate.
“In the Rajya Sabha elections, I voted for the BJP so that my work in the constituency doesn’t suffer. For any public work, you need the help of the State government or the Centre,” says Kandhal bhai, who had a number of prison circumstances lodged towards him.
Being from the dominant Mer group — who’re mentioned to have been a part of feudal militia within the erstwhile princely state of Porbandar other than being agriculturists — Kandhal bhai has a pure benefit as his group types the majority of the voters.
But through the years, he has additionally acquired a fame of being an accessible chief who can break by means of the pink tape of officialdom and get any work achieved.
“That may be true but he has the image of a Don and that makes all the difference,” says a BJP member from Porbandar who didn’t want to be named.
The ring of non-public bodyguards and armed safety officers (PSOs) round Kandhal bhai is a refined reminder of his controversial background.
Countering allegations of pursuing musclemen politics, Kandhal bhai says, ”I’ve come right here to search my votes. These are my votes on the premise of my work. My mom and uncle additionally represented them”.
His speech exterior a temple within the Teri village isn’t very spectacular and reads like a laundry checklist of labor achieved utilizing his MLA funds.
Not many volunteer when he asks individuals to checklist out their points. An outdated man, nevertheless, questions why an extra test dam that the village was promised has not been constructed.
Kandhal bhai’s reply: “Dam has been sanctioned and work will start soon”.
“He keeps winning because of the Mer community,” says the outdated man who had questioned him on the election assembly however refused to share his title.
It’s a political calculation different events have achieved. Except Aam Admi Party, each the Congress and the BJP have additionally fielded candidates from the Mer group.
BJP’s Dheliben Odedera, who headed the Kutiyana Municipal Board for over twenty years, is seen as the primary challenger.
“I am not scared of contesting against him. Voters of Kutiyana know me and my work,” the BJP candidate says, including, ”They will vote for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s improvement work. We are profitable this election”.
