As predicted by poll pundits, the BJP had a clean sweep in Gujarat; well almost, except for a lone Congress leader, Geniben Thakor, who scripted history by becoming the first Congress leader to win in the Lok Sabha elections in Gujarat in a decade.
Geniben Thakor defeated the BJP’s Rekha Chaudhari from Banaskantha seat by a margin of 30,406 votes. She secured 6,71,883 votes against her nearest rival Chaudhari’s 6,41,477 votes.
Banaskantha was the only constituency in Gujarat where women candidates of two prominent parties faced each other in what turned out to be a closely-fought contest.
Always a giant slayer
A Congress MLA from Vav assembly constituency, Geniben Thakor is a political science graduate from Jain Vishva Bharati Institute.
Geniben Thakor has been hailed as a “giant slayer” for her Lok Sabha victory in Banaskantha. But she has always been one, beating BJP heavyweights like Shankar Chaudhary and Swarupji Thakor in assembly polls earlier.
She lost her first assembly polls from Vav in 2012, but won in the next assembly polls, beating Chaudhary. She won the assembly polls again in 2022, defeating Thakor.
The consolidation of the OBC-Dalit-Muslim vote appears to have given her and her party the much-needed victory in the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah. Her campaigns at the grassroots level, including attending social gatherings and small events at the villages, are said to have built a connect with the OBC-Dalit-Muslim voter base, in turn, assuring her victory.
Crowd-funding the campaign
The campaign for the Lok Sabha polls was not easy for Geniben Thakor as she had to go from house to house in her constituency to raise money for her campaign after her party had said it did not have the resources to fund her. She had also sought the help of community leaders to fund her campaign.
“We asked for a donation of Rs 111 from each person in Banaskantha… Her victory is truly the public’s victory. She had no leader by her side, but the people of Banaskantha,” The Print quoted a member of Thakor’s poll campaign as saying.
She thanked the people of her constituency for treating her as their sister and helping her out in every way possible to contest and win. “I thank them for coining the slogan ‘Banas ni be Geniben’ (Geniben, the sister of Bansasnaktha), and promise to serve them as long as I live,” she said after her victory. The new MP assured them that she will try to fulfil the promises made to the people and work together with them.
