Guj polls : BJP nominates first Christian candidate in 20 years

For the first time in 20 years, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is running a solitary Christian candidate in the next assembly election in Guajart’s Vyara. Punaji Gamit, a four-time MLA from Vyara and opponent of the BJP’s Mohan Konkani, will represent the Congress.

The 48-year-old Konkani is running for the BJP in the tribal-dominated Vyara assembly constituency in the Tapi district. He is a native of the Dolvan taluka’s Haripura village.

The Vyara assembly segment is a steadfast supporter of the Congress. Christians make up about 45% of the 2.23 lakh voters in the Vyara assembly constituency.

Since 2007, Gamit, 64, a converted Christian, has served as Congress’s representative in the Vyara legislature.

Despite being a social worker and farmer, Konkani has been a committed BJP supporter since 1995.

He is currently the chairman of the Tapi district panchayat after running against Mavji Chaudhary, a leader in the cooperative Congress, in the 2015 election.

Mohan Konkani expressed his gratitude to the BJP’s leadership, saying, “I am indebted to the party’s high command and the BJP for their trust and faith in me. On December 1 (polling date), I will make history in Vyara, and I am certain of it. The political atmosphere in Vyara has improved and I can count on the support of the constituency’s 72,000 Christian voters.”

When asked about the BJP’s pro-minority stance in Vyara. A senior BJP leader said, “I can talk to any government official in the BJP regime and have my concerns addressed. The Hindutva era has ended, and now it’s “Sab Ka Saath, Sab Ka Vikas.”

At least eight of the 27 tribal seats in the 182-member House are held by Christians, though Congress has long fielded just one Christian candidate as a show of deference.

Since the 2007 elections, the BJP has seen substantially less hostility among Christian tribals. Due to the immediate economic benefits they provide to the tribes’ members, cooperatives and dairy schemes—both state government initiatives—are seen favourably by the tribals. The shift in sentiment in Vyara may be a sign of upcoming politics elsewhere in the state because tribals are Gujarat’s second-largest vote bloc after Odisha.

 “It’s a win-win for the BJP, which has already emerged as the dominant force replacing Congress in the tribal belt of South Gujarat,” a political analyst told Hindustan Times.