Congress on comeback trail in Surendranagar

SURENDRANAGAR: The Congress is on a comeback trail in Surendranagar, after having lost all the six state assembly seats in the 1998 elections. The party is not only well poised, but it is making a desperate attempt to improve its showing.
The inept handling of the relief material for the quake-affected people, the failure to supply Narmada water and failure of the state ministers, including I K Jadeja and Fakirbhai Vaghela, to solve problems here has raised questions on whether the people will be casting their votes in favour of the saffron party.
In the last elections, the BJP won all the six seats, but this time the scenario could be very different. According to sources, the Congress might have the upper hand this time as their leaders have been listening to the woes of the people and promising to look into the problems.
The Congress, on the decline in the region for over a decade, did not have any presence in 1990 when the BJP had bagged 4 seats and the Janata Dal 2 seats. In 1995, it could manage just one seat and in 1998 it had a clean slate.
The biggest problem in the district, bordering the Rann of Kutch, is that of salty underground water and sweet water is a luxury here. Narmada water seems like a mirage, despite repeated assurances of the authorities here.
Besides water, the other issue uppermost in the minds of the people is that of poor rehabilitation work after the quake. Almost two years after the killer quake struck the region, the people are still awaiting the full compensation amount. The official record shows that the first instalment towards repairing damaged houses was been paid, but the ground reality is that most of the people are yet to receive enough money even for repair work, let alone reconstruction.
Bhavesh, a pan shop owner in Tikar, bordering the Rann of Kutch has been paid a grant of just Rs 6,000, even though his entire shop had collapsed. He had to borrow another Rs 24,000 to rebuild his small shop, all this with a daily earning of just around Rs 200. "I have lost faith in the BJP government and our elected representatives," he said.
The Congress, in their campaigning, have assured to launch a thorough probe into the quake-relief work. According to Savitaben Kansagara of Surendranagar, "The Congress has assured us of a probe, lets see what they do for us. The BJP candidates have not come to us even once. How can they come, they do not have the guts to face our wrath."
The people here are also facing acute shortage of job as there are no industries here. The ceramic industry is on its deathbed with a large number of units being closed, the ginning and pressing units are also in poor financial shape.