Collective bargaining is the norm here

GUJARAT DECIDES

Candidates for the Rajkot (Rural) constituency in Gujarat have a different campaign plan when it comes to a set of 19 villages in the constituency. Led by a village called Raj Samdhiala, just off the Ahmedabad-Rajkot highway, these villages indulge in a unique collective bargaining when it comes to voting.

In Raj Samadhiala itself, no political party is allowed to hold election meetings, here candidates make their pitch to the village panchayat consisting of 12 people and later a community meeting, making definite promises.

With over 1,851 votes in one village alone, besides the 19 other villages which follow its lead, the pitch is discussed threadbare by the candidates and the community, and one candidate is chosen.

No voting is not an option, and a fine of Rs 50 is imposed on any adult who does not exercise his/her franchise come election day. According to Jitesh Bhatt, a member of the village panchayat, this is not the only fine that the community imposes on itself. "For the last 10 years, there has not been a single police case from our village. Our Lok Adalat solves all problems except of course murder, we haven't had that too in 10 years," he says.

A fine of Rs 500 is imposed on anyone who bypasses the Lok Adalat and in very severe cases of breach, entire families are turned out of the village. "Since the 1960s, however, only four families have been cast out," says Bhatt. Littering is also an offence and attracts a fine of Rs 50 as does selling and use of 'gutkha' and liquor.

"Ours is the first village in Gujarat to have won the Nirmal Gram Puraskar from President Kalam," says Bhatt proudly. When asked as to whom the village will vote for this year, Bhatt says the decision is yet to be made. "Last year, we voted for the Congress and the BJP candidate won. To his credit, the MLA did do the work he promised us, so we will give that due consideration," he said.

The idea for this village-level solidarity in a countryside divided on caste line was first mooted by the person heading their Lok Adalat, Hardev Singh Jadeja. "He is an MA in English and the first man to get a Class I officer's job in our village. Back in 1976, we asked him to come up with something that would help us. And this is his idea," says Bhatt.