By Rajeev Khanna, IANS
Ahmedabad : The Gujarat assembly elections may or not be an epic battle, but some contestants certainly fancy themselves as characters straight from the Mahabharata.
Like Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) rebel candidate Dhiru Gajera, one of the most vocal voices against Chief Minister Narendra Modi, who likens himself to Arjuna and his former party bosses to Dronacharya.
When asked why he was contesting against the BJP, Gajera, who contested from the Surat north assembly constituency as a Congress candidate, reminded the reporter of how Arjuna was duty-bound to battle against his own teacher Dronacharya and family elder Bishma Pitamaha who had sided with the Kauravas in the epic battle.
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No campaigning in our village, please
Rajsamadhiyala in Rajkot district is a village with a difference. People in the village did not allow any party to campaign. The reason: they said they were well aware of the parties’ stands and knew precisely what they wanted.
But they did vote in numbers, as their panchayat has a tradition of imposing a fine on those who do not cast their ballot.
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Urban voters take it easy
The rural-urban divide was clearly visible in the first phase of polling in Saurashtra, Kutch and south Gujarat. While rural voters were queuing up to exercise their franchise right from the morning despite a chill in the air, their urban counterparts decided to take it easy and enjoy the holiday.
At the end of the day, the turnout was low in the urban pockets despite apparent enthusiasm among youngsters, many of who got election symbols of their preferred parties tattooed on their bodies.
In contrast to the holiday air in cities, polling was a matter-of-fact affair in villages where people cast their votes and resumed their daily chores.
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What are the odds?
Throw up any uncertainty, any contest and they are ready to bet on the outcome. And the election that has been under intense national focus provided the right opportunity to those in the betting market to make quick bucks.
Even as votes were being cast, the market was abuzz with rumours and speculation. Media reports here say a whopping amount of Rs.40 billion is riding on this assembly election.