Vadnagaris will help Modi in Maninagar

VADNAGAR, Mehsana: They claim he never came here for the last 35 years, not even when there were deaths in his family. Most of them saw him for the first time only five years back when he came to seek their votes for the BJP.
But residents of Vadnagar want their "gam no chhoro" (village boy) Narendra Modi to be re-elected, despite the joblessness that haunts them, the water that has become a mirage and the power supply that is a rare visitor.
Though Modi is not contesting from his native, people of Vadnagar — which has a population of 25,000 — will help and ensure that he is elected from Maninagar constituency in Ahmedabad.
Ask them how. There is no work, no industry, nor any water to irrigate fields. So thousands have been forced to migrate from here in search of work. "Natives of Vadnagar dominate Maninagar constituency — they have 18,000 votes in Maninagar constituency. They will vote for Modi irrespective of their political leanings," says a leading advocate, A S Modi. This advocate, who is in his 50s, lives near the Nadi Ol area and practices in Mehsana district court.
Forty-something D V Rami who is employed with a semi-government organisation says, "Electric supply is only for five to six hours daily. There is no water in the aquifers. There have been no good rains for many years, so crops have failed. And so business is also down. What can people do? Every day some 5,000-odd locals go to Visnagar in search of work."
But has not the son of this town done anything for them? "Forget anything special, we haven''t got any benefits that we should have considering this place being the chief minister''s hometown. But we are still happy that the CM is from our town," he says.
As if adding insult to their injury, the only rail-route that connected them to Mehsana — fixed by the erstwhile Gaekwadi kings — has been shut down. "Even the rails, laid down by the erstwhile Gaekwadi kings connecting to Tarangaji, were stolen from the railway tracks recently," quips thirty-something Harish Desai, also an advocate.
Though it has fallen on bad days, Vadnagar still retains the monuments of its ancient glory. The famous 11th century monument of ''Toran'' which is now an icon of Gujarat, stands towering over the rest of the town.
Next to this monument stays one Suryaben Patel. She is in her 50s and stays with her mother. When asked about Modi, she says, "He left this village several years ago, but his wife lives here closeby."
When asked about what Modi has done for her village, she says with a glitter in her eye, "He has done nothing for us so far. But, we would still like a chief minister from our village. He will solve all our problems after he comes back."
Surprisingly, despite the hard-core Hindutva that Modi preaches and practices, there is no communal tension here. There are nearly 2,000 Muslims in Vadnagar. And despite the Godhra incident and its aftermath, this town remained event-free. The locals also say that they have no problem with Muslims.