Gujarat’s Mehsana, which is one of the 182 Legislative Assembly constituencies of the state and is one of the seven Vidhan Sabha seats, is set for a triangular contest among Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Congress. Voting will be held in two phases on 182 assembly seats in Gujarat.
Mehsana Assembly constituency’s polls are widely gaining people’s interest because of several reasons. One of the reasons is the absence of Former Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel, whose influence is believed in the Mehsana district. On the other hand, the AAP’s entry could be another reason as it is contesting elections in Gujarat for the first time.
In Patel’s absence in this election, BJP has given the ticket to Mukesh Patel in his place. On the other hand, Congress has named PK Patel as its candidate and the Aam Aadmi Party has placed its bets on the Patidar face.
Mehsana district, which is considered to be the centre of socio-economic and political activity of North Gujarat, is also famous because Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s village Badnagar comes in Mehsana district only. There are seven assembly seats in this Mehsana district.
The BJP, after the 2017 Patidar agitation, had suffered huge losses as Patidars, Thakors, Chaudharys and Patels decide the victory or defeat in the Mehsana district. Moreover, as per past elections, many veteran leaders had been seen trying their luck from the Mehsana assembly seat, the headquarters of the district.
BJP, which had won the Mehsana assembly seat in 1990, has mostly remained in the possession of the region. Nitin Patel, who was the first Deputy Chief Minister of Gujarat, in the 2012 and 2017’s assembly elections won this seat.
Following Patel’s absence, as per several media reports, many people had opined that BJP may be harmed in Mehsana due to Nitin Patel not contesting the election. Patel, in 2017 had beaten Congress’ Jivabhai Patel.
Patel’s recusal from the contest, along with former CM Vijay Rupani, has signalled that the BJP in the State wanted to turn the page on the last few years and usher in a new generation of leadership. However, in all such cases, it is easier said than done on the ground therefore when it came to selecting a candidate for Mehsana, Patel’s replacement Mukesh Patel was selected.
In the Mehsana assembly, around 23 per cent are Patidar voters, 16 per cent Thakor, 6 per cent Muslim, 11 per cent Dalit, 14 per cent in other backward classes (OBC), 4 per cent Kshatriya and 12.9 per cent in other caste people are likely to exercise their rights.
