BJP snatches Godhra as Congress rebel wins in close fight

Congress rebel C K Raulji contesting on the BJP ticket on Monday won from Godhra for the sixth time beating Rajendrasinh Parmar by a tiny margin of 258 votes.

The neck and neck fight and every minute changing trends made the candidates bite their nails, but in the end the Congress candidate, who was leading for a long time could not defeat Raulji, who was in the fray for a consecutive third win from the constituency.

Godhra shot into worldwide prominence after the Godhra train burning incident near the Godhra railway station on February 27, 2002 in which about 56 train passengers were burnt alive. Statewide communal riots between Hindus and Muslims began after that.

Godhra has been a Congress bastion for almost three decades. The BJP last won in Godhra in 2002 due to the probable polarisation after the communal violence.

This time the contest became interesting as the sitting and five-time Congress MLA C K Raulji, who is also a close aide of Shankarsinh Vaghela, shifted to the BJP camp.

As a result, Congress was forced to field a fresh face, Rajendra Parmar. The BJP also faced revolt and Jaswant Parmar filed his nomination papers as a rebel BJP candidate but had to settle for third position bagging 18,856 votes.

Both Patel and Parmar belong to the backward Bakshi Panch (OBC) community, which has highest number of votes as a group having 90,000 voters out of total 2.5 lakh in the constituency. The constituency also has 50,000 Muslim voters.

The division of Bakshi Panch votes among Patel and Parmar might have played a role in the victory of the BJP candidate.

There are total 2,52,334 registered voters. As per the 2011 census, there were 1,29,197 male and 1,23,134 female.

This assembly seat represents the following segments: Godhra Taluka (Part) Villages - Sampa, Bakhkhar, Tarvadi, Chhavad, Pipaliya, Bodidra Bujarg, Dholi, Vansiya, Khajuri Sampa, Mor Dungara, Nasirpur, Chhabanpur, Samli, Padhiyar, Vinzol, Daruniya, Dhanol(Jangle), Govindi, Kanku Thambhla, Chanchopa, Kanajiya, Orwada, Kevadiya, Chanchelav, Erandi, Kotda, Jafrabad, Bhamaiya, Pandva, Betiya, Vavadi Khurd, Veganpur, Tuwa, Gusar, Goli, Bhima, Gavasi, Harkundi, Ambali, Vavadi Bujarg, Paravdi, Chundadi, Gadh, Ladpur, Vadelav, Sankali, Angaliya, Bamroli Khurd, Gadukpur, Dayal, Lilesara, Chikhodra, Hamirpur, Rupanpura, Nani Kantadi, Raisingpura, Ranipura, Chanchpur, Ratanpur (Reliya), Kalyana, Asardi, Bhalodiya, Reliya, Ankadiya, Veraiya, Vatlav, Tarboradi, Pratappura, Rampura (Jodka), Dhanol, Isrodiya, Mahelol, Bhanpura, Karanpura, Popatpura, Vanakpur, Mahuliya, Chhariya, Kaliya Kuwa, Rinchhiya, Tajpur, Thana Garjan, Sarangpur, Jitpura, Bhalaniya, Bhatpura, Torna, Ladupura, Achhala, Godhra (M).