Riding on the 'Modi wave' in Rajkot Lok Sabha seat of Gujarat, the BJP has dared to gamble once again by giving ticket to Kadva Patel community candidate Mohan Kundaria against strong Koli community leader and present Congress MP Kunwarji Bavaliya.
After 20 years of BJP dominance on this seat, Congress managed to snatch it away in 2009 when its 'Koli' leader Kuvarji Bavailia defeated 'Kadva' Patel opposition nominee Kiran Bhalodia, as another sub-case of Patel Leuva was denied tickets by the saffron party.
However, BJP has once again given ticket to a Kadva Patel candidate Mohan Kundaria and played a gamble on him in this seat which has made the contest interesting. While the Congress hopes to retain this seat where caste combination matters a lot.
On Rajkot Lok Sabha seat, three communities including two sub-castes of Patels 'Kadva' (2 lakh) and 'Leuva' (2.75 lakh) and 'Koli' (2.35 lakh) community have remained decisive in the polls.
The seat had been won by Leuva Patel candidates (from both parties) since 1977 to 2004, but breaking the tradition a Koli community leader won it for the first time in last Lok Sabha polls.
BJP lost the Rajkot seat after two decades in 2009 when the party had preferred not to repeat its four-time MP and a Leuva Patel leader Vallabh Kathiria.
For the first time after 1989, Congress' Koli candidate Kunwarji Bavaliya had managed to defeat BJP's Bhalodia with a margin of 24,735 votes.
If 2012 elections on seven assembly segments of Rajkot Lok Sabha seat are seen as any indicator, then BJP (4 seats) is just one ahead from Congress (3 seats), which can also assure a keen electoral battle here.
