Godhra:
In much of Gujarat, elections 2012 are being fought on issues of development, with top leaders quibbling over reach of electricity and quality of water. But the small, relatively underdeveloped constituency of Godhra is yet to put behind it the events of February 27, 2002.
Godhra, which will vote on Monday, December 17, in the second phase of polling, remains deeply polarised. In 2002, a coach of the Sabarmati Express carrying Hindu
kar sevaks returning from Ayodhya were set afire at the town's railway station; 59 people died. The incident sparked communal riots that tore through Gujarat, leaving about 2,000 people dead, many of them Muslims.
Many Muslims in Godhra - with nearly 45,000 votes, about 22 per cent of the 2.13 lakh electorate - say they are not ready to "forgive" Chief Minister Narendra Modi, who has been accused of not doing enough to stop the rioting and has even faced allegations of complicity. Mr Modi visited Godhra late last year as part of his "
Sadbhavna (amity) Mission."
The Muslims have been voting almost en bloc for the Congress since 1962, when the first Assembly polls were held after the bifurcation of the Bombay Presidency into Gujarat and Maharashtra. Congress candidates have won the Godhra seat in five of the 11 Assembly elections held in the state since then. But few Muslims have won here - Abdulrahim Ismail Khalpa of the Congress won three elections of four won by Muslim candidates.
But this time that vote could be split, says Firdausbhai Kothi, president of the Muslim Ganchi Samaj Panch and owner of Kothi Steel Limited. Mr Kothi, who had given shelter to hundreds of Muslims during the Gujarat riots, said, "Muslims can make or mar the electoral fate of a candidate in Godhra but this time they stand divided. There can be a three-way split in the votes with the Congress, Independent Rameshbhai and, to some extent the BJP, being the
beneficiaries".
There are eight candidates in the fray in Godhra, but the contest is a triangular one between sitting MLA, the Congress ' C K Raulji, the BJP's Praveensinh Chauhan and Girwatsinh Solanki of Keshubhai Patel's Gujarat Parivartan Party (GPP). Mr Rauji is a Godhra veteran - he has won the seat thrice; as a Janata Dal candidate, a BJP man and now a Congressman. Mr Chauhan, contesting elections for the first time, is the son of a BJP MP Prabhatsinh
Chauhan.
A realtor from Surat Rameshbhai Patel has also thrown his hat in the ring as an independent candidate, looking to corner the influential Patel vote.
Four Muslim candidates too had filed nominations as Independents but they all withdrew at the last minute. "Godhra is a prestige issue for Narendra Modi. So, he fielded Muslim candidates to divide Congress votes, but the Congress made sure they backed off," said Mr Kothi.