Former party colleagues turn rivals in three wards

Ahmedabad: In politics, there are no permanent friends or foes, a reality clearly reflected in the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) elections. In the 2021 AMC polls, candidates elected as corporators from the same party in Gomtipur, Danilimda and Jamalpur wards are now locked in contests against their former colleagues in the 2026 elections.During the 2021 AMC polls, Rafik Sheikh and Mustak Khadiwala contested the Jamalpur ward as AIMIM candidates, and both were elected as corporators. However, ahead of the 2026 elections, both resigned from the AIMIM. They are now pitted against each other in Jamalpur. Khadiwala is contesting as a Congress candidate, while Sheikh is in the fray as an Independent candidate. A similar political shift has unfolded in Gomtipur. In the 2021 elections, Iqbal Sheikh and Zulfi Khan Pathan won as Congress candidates from the ward. Before the 2026 polls, Iqbal Sheikh resigned from the Congress and joined the AIMIM. He is now contesting from Gomtipur as an AIMIM candidate, while Zulfi Khan Pathan is seeking re-election as a Congress candidate. Thus, corporators who jointly represented the ward in 2021 are now rivals in 2026. The pattern is also evident in Danilimda. In 2021, Jamnaben Vegda was elected as a corporator from the ward on a Congress ticket. Following a dispute with a fellow corporator, she was suspended from the party and later joined the Aam Aadmi Party ahead of the 2026 elections. She is now contesting as an AAP candidate. In 2021, Shehzad Khan Pathan was elected alongside her from Danilimda. In the upcoming election, the two will contest against each other from rival panels in the ward.