All eyes on Anand nagarpalika polls now

VADODARA/ANAND: After the elections for the six municipal corporations got over, the attention has shifted to nagarpalika polls. In Anand district, where elections for the board of five nagarpalikas are scheduled on October 21, the battle to capture the civic body of Anand town is likely to be intense.
Interestingly, it is for the first time that Congress has fielded party candidates instead of declaring outside support to independents.For 42 seats of the 14 wards of Anand nagarpalika, a total of 146 candidates are in fray. While BJP has nominated 39 candidates, Congress has fielded 42 candidates. Six candidates are contesting on NCP ticket, while there are 59 independents in the fray. So, though it is a direct fight between BJP and Congress for most of the seats, the poll battle is turning interesting thanks to the presence of independents.
Of the 39 candidates fielded by the BJP, the party has repeated 17 of its councilors. Those denied tickets by the party this time include former Nagarpalika president Jayraj Patel and former deputy president and old RSS hand Ghanshyam Khatri. Another former BJP councillor Chetan Patel alias Akku, who was suspended from the party recently, is now contesting as an independent.
Sources suggest that a majority of candidates fielded by BJP are supporters of Vijay Patel alias Master who had joined the BJP after contesting the last elections under an independent banner - Vikas Manch.
It was thanks to the support of 12 independents, led by Vijay Master, that BJP which had bagged 19 seats after the 2005 elections, and managed to form a board in the civic body.
For the first time, three syndicate members of Sardar Patel University (SPU) will be contesting the polls. While SPU's syndicate member DC Patel is leading the Congress panel, BJP's sitting councillor and syndicate member Pragnesh Patel is also in the fray. This apart, Bipin Vakil, who is president of education trust Anand People's Medicare Society and also a syndicate member, is contesting the polls under the banner of Sarvapakshiya Dal.