Porbandar: Old rivals in the fray

Porbandar: Old rivals — BJP’s Babu Bokhiria and Congress’ Arjun Modhwadia — are again contesting against each other in the coastal constituency of Porbandar where the fishing community holds the key. Both the leaders are considered to be strongmen in the birth place of Mahatma Gandhi.Both of them have earlier defeated each other once.

The Congress is leaving nothing to chance in its bid to woo the fishing community in Gujarat but Porbandar is expected to see a tight-battle between it and the ruling BJP. Both Bokhiria and Modhwadia belong to the Mer community.

Other than the Mer and fishing community, which have the strength of around 70,000 and 30,000, Brahmins and Lohanas, the merchant caste, account for around 50,000 and 20,000 votes, respectively.

But it is the fishing community which could ultimately decide who will emerge as the winner from Porbandar.

The support from the fishing community remains a deciding factor, with both BJP and Congress campaigning aggressively and claiming that they have the community’s support.

Mr Bokhiria, the present MLA, had also served as a Cabinet minister in the Gujarat government.

After serving for two consecutive terms, Mr Modhwadia had faced drubbing at the hands of Bokhiria in 2012 by a margin of around 17,000 votes. This time, the Congress nominee campaigned hard to regain the lost ground.

Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi on October 2 visited the birth place of Mahatma Gandhi to mark his birth anniversary. He had addressed another rally in the same constituency on November 27.