In potato bowl, Congress reaps solitary success

In Gujarat’s potato bowl, a plucky Congress legislator has denied BJP a hat-trick of clean sweep. Geniben Thakore gifted her party a consolation win in PM Narendra Modi’s home state by trouncing rookie Rekhaben Chaudhary by 31,000 votes in Banaskantha Lok Sabha seat.

The feisty Thakore community leader, who hit the campaign trail pitching herself as “Banas ni Ben (sister of Banas)”, sent Rekhaben packing in a finish that went down to the wire. This is the first time in 62 years that a woman candidate has romped home in Banaskantha, after Congress’ Zohraben Chavda won the seat in 1962. The victory margin may look small, but it was a tall order for the 47-year-old Geniben to sway the fortunes in Congress’ favour, considering BJP won this seat by 3.69 lakh votes in 2019.

“It was a contest between Geniben and Shankar Chaudhary, and not Rekha Chaudhary,” Gujarat Congress spokesperson Parthivraj Kathwadia said. “This is defeat of ‘sarkar’ (govt) and ‘sahkar’ (cooperatives), as Shankarbhai used his clout, but in vain.”

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