The power of fear has always come in handy for politicians. Recently, Madhu Shrivastava, a six-time MLA from Waghodia was heard issuing threats at a public meeting. “Maara kaaryakarta no collar pakadyo toh ghar maan ghusine goli maari daish. (If anyone grabs any of my workers by the collar, I will go to their house and shoot them),” Shrivastava, who owns a Webley Scott revolver, had said. Whether they employ it or not, such brazenness is at the disposal of 13 candidates in the fray for the upcoming poll — six from the BJP, five from the Congress, one from AAP and an independent possess firearms licences.
Shrivastava is contesting as an independent from the Waghodia seatafter he was dropped by the BJP this time. He is pitted against BJP’s Ashwin Patel, who also has the licence to use his 12 bore single barrel gun.
The other sitting MLAs with firearms licences who are contesting include Congress candidates Nathabhai Patel from Dhanera and Raghu Desai from Radhanpur, and BJP candidates Vijay Patel and Jagdish Panchal from Dang and Nikol respectively.
Both the Chaudhary candidates fielded by the BJP and the Congress in Dhanera possess weapons. Congress’s Nathabhai Patel had won this seat in 2017 after defeating Mavji Desai of the BJP by a margin of 2,093 votes. Denied a ticket by the BJP this time, Desai is fighting as an independent. The saffron party has instead fielded Bhagwan Patel, who owns a 6 bore revolver.
In Tharad, the BJP has fieldedShankar Chaudhary who has a licensed revolver. In 2017, he lost the poll from the Vav seat against Geniben Thakor. The Congress has repeated Gulabsinh Rajput who won the bypoll that was necessitated after Tharad’s BJP MLA Parbat Patel was elected the Banaskantha MP in 2019.
Takhatsinh Solanki is the AAP candidate from Shehra, which has been a BJP bastion for the past five terms. In 2007 and 2012, he fought Jethabhai Bharwad on Congress tickets. This time, Solanki, who owns a 0. 32-inch MK-III revolver, will fight BJP’s Bharwad on an AAP ticket.
Sanjay Rabari, the son of former MLA Gova Rabari who is making hiselectoral debut on a Congress ticket from Deesa, owns a pistol. Radhanpur’s Congress candidate Raghu Desai, who owns a Webley Scott revolver worth Rs 5 lakh is pitted against BJP’s Lavingji Thakor.
Of the 17 assembly seats in Ahmedabad, 12 were won by BJP in 2017. Of these, two sitting MLAs have been repeated by the party — Jagdish Panchal, minister of state for roads and buildings, from Nikol and CM Bhupendra Patel from Ghatlodia. Panchal, who had won the seat for the BJP in 2012 and 2017, owns a revolver.
The other first-time candidates who possess gun licences include Chaitanya Desai, the BJP candidate from Akota, and Manhar Patel and Balkrushna Patel, Congress candidates from Botad and Dabhoi respectively.
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