Amid BJP wave, SP makes entry into Gujarat assembly

Local strongman and incumbent MLA Kandhal Jadeja of Samajwadi Party on Thursday retained the Kutiyana assembly seat, defeating his nearest Bharatiya Janata Party rival Dheliben Odedara by 26712 votes.

While Jadeja polled 60163 votes, Odedara got 33532 votes.

Bhimabhai Makvana of Aam AAdmi Party polled 19273 votes.

Jadeja had repeatedly told voters during the poll campaign to forget about "lotus and hand" (poll symbols of BJP and Congress) and to make cycle, his symbol, run this time in the Kutiayana constituency.

The clock, a reference to the Nationalist Congress Party which had fielded him in 2017, has stopped and the cycle should run, the Samajwadi Party candidate said.

The voters kept their faith in the two-term MLA for representing them for another stint in the Gujarat assembly amid the pro-BJP wave across the state which took the ruling party to a record-breaking tally.

The buzz in the coastal constituency in Saurashtra throughout the campaign was whether the political dominance of 'bhai', as Jadeja is often referred to, will continue in this largely rural assembly segment.

An accused in several criminal cases, Jadeja prides himself on getting things done for constituents and is frank enough to admit that he is not much concerned about the means of it.

"Kaam ke liye thoda idhar udhar karta hun. Kaam hai to naam hai. (I do bend things a little for work. If work is done, then you are recognised)," he had told PTI during the campaign

And that is why, Jadeja said, he did not join big parties like the BJP or the Congress.

"In big parties you have to follow rules. But I do not believe in following rules but getting my work done," he said.

Son of Santokben Jadeja whose criminal enterprise had spawned the Hindi film 'Godmother', he claims that criminal cases against him belonged to the past and that people vote for him due to his accessibility and work.

He has been among a handful of state MLAs who have been winning on the strength of their personal appeal in the last two polls in an otherwise heavily bipolar electoral scene in the state, unaffected by larger political trends.

Across the constituency, there are people who admire him for his ready willingness to help them and push development work but many also admit that he is not the one to take any opposition kindly.

Kutiyana is part of Gujarat's Porbandar district, the birthplace of Mahatma Gandhi.