Pathan-Vasava feud to play out in Bharuch

AHMEDABAD: The election for Bharuch

Lok Sabha

seat is a saga of hostility between the families of the Pathans from Netrang and the Vasavas from Jhagadia, which goes back several decades.

Abdursakur Pathan, the father of Congress candidate Sherkhan Pathan, and Chhotubhai Vasava, MLA and nominee of Bharatiya Tribal Party, were engaged in a game of one-upmanship from 1995 to 2005. Vasava and Pathan were fighting to establish supremacy over the minority and tribal-dominated talukas of Jhagadia, Dediapada, Netrang, Vagra and Ankleshwar in Bharuch district.

One tribal leader said, "The two were domineering personalities. They didn’t trust each other and would not venture out of their areas without supporters. Later they had a tacit agreement and did not go into each others’ perceived areas. However, things would not remain the same because Pathan’s son is fighting the

Lok Sabha election

as the Congress candidate in Bharuch against Chhotubhai Vasava."

A Congress leader from Vagra in Bharuch district recently told a largely Muslim crowd, "If you vote for us, you will have a good time for five years. You will not need to fear anyone any more."

A Congress leader from Bharuch told TOI, "It was wrong on the part of our party to have two known rivals contest against each other. The politicking will create ill-will between tribal people and Muslims, which is not good for the region. It would have been better if the Congress had given the ticket to Ahmed Patel. In the 2009 general elections, Aziz Tankarvi of Congress lost to Mansukh Vasava of BJP by just 28,000 votes. It is the triangular contest now, the votes of tribal people and Muslims will get split and this may benefit BJP."