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Porbandar witnesses battle of the dons

Fine dust from the countless limestone quarries and the terror from the unobtrusive, but omnipresent, mafia hangs heavily in the air.

There are 14 candidates in the fray from this assembly seat in Porbandar district and all the main parties accuse each other of fielding underworld dons or getting the blessings of one. Porbandar district is infamous for its mafia dons and their anti-social activities.

The shadow of two people looms large over the electoral battle. One is not a contestant while the other is in the fray to let everyone know that he is still a force to reckon with.

The first is Santokben Jadeja, perceived as a mafia don and who is called Godmother in these parts. She withdrew from the contest in favour of Congress candidate Bharatbhai Mahant.

As a result of Santokben's generosity, the Congress has been able to field a candidate for this seat for the first time in ten years.

The other is Bhurabhai Munja, the Samajwadi Party candidate and Santokben's estranged brother-in-law, who has been running a vociferous campaign. Like Santokben, Munja is also accused of being involved in anti-social activities.

When you confront him with the goondagardi allegations, he simply laughs. "Where is it written in my forehead that I am mafia [don]? I have five TADA [Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act] cases registered against me. So what? Tomorrow if the government wants they can book you too? Will you then be mafia? I give justice to people."

Kutiyana village zilla parishad head Devabhai Pandit defends Munja saying people have been approaching his family for ages to resolve disputes. "If he does that, you [media] call him a mafia don?"

Sandwiched between these high profile names is Bharatiya Janata Party candidate Karsanbhai Dhulabhai, who, according to the small talk in the town, made his money through the transport business.

When the talk veers towards the basic issues that bothers the people the most, 'water' tops the list. People here are hoping for better roads, more drinking and agricultural water, and an end to the goondagardi they have had to put up with for several years now.

Rakeshbhai Vejabhai, an out-of-work farmer, says: "We get drinking water once in ten days and there is no water for my fields. The rich farmers have bore wells but small farmers like me can't grow more than one crop a year. For the rest of the year, I remain unemployed or have to work in the limestone quarries, where half my earnings are taken away by the mafia as protection money."

Ask him for names, he goes into a shell and refuses to answer.

Big farmers, however, have their own set of problems.

"What is the use of having 300 bighas of land and many bore wells when there is not enough electricity to operate the pumps. I can't utilise all my land for farming. Just a small portion, as that is what can be cared for properly with the current level of water and electricity supply," says Veljibhai.

Farmers who are blessed by nature with ample reserves of groundwater have it slightly easy. They sell water to other farmers. "The rate is around Rs 400-500 per hour of water supply depending on the power supply scheduled for the day. On Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, the rate is Rs 500 as power is available for only four hours. On other days, it is Rs 400, as about 7-8 hours of power is made available."

Groundnut is the major crop in Kutiyana. Many big farmers, though, are beginning to cultivate cottonseeds.

Sharatbhai Jadeja, a shopkeeper in Kutiyana town, points to potholes that pass for roads and says that the BJP has done precious little for development.

"Many people are suffering from lung ailments because of the dust, which constantly hangs in the air. All that Karsanbhai has done is line his pocket by extracting his pound of flesh from trucks that transport limestone and stone to the cement factories in and around Porbandar," he says.

Karsanbhai, who is the sitting MLA, however, rejects these allegations. "The issue is one of establishing peace and prosperity across Gujarat."

The BJP is harping on getting the Narmada waters to the district and its 'success' in ending the goondaraj in the region.

"The BJP finished off goondagardi [hooliganism] in this area. Santokben has been banished to Rajkot. She has been living there for five years. Bhurabhai Munja was in Gandhinagar till he came back fifteen days ago to start his campaign. The people have a lot of faith in the BJP and we are going to win hands down," he insists.

During his tenure, developmental projects worth Rs 50 million (Rs 5 crore) were carried out, he adds.

Jaiprakash Mahant, brother of the Congress candidate, agrees that the BJP has marginalised Santokben and Bhurabhai. However, they have been replaced Karsanbhai, the 'biggest goonda' of them all, he adds.

He accuses the BJP candidate of siphoning off the money meant for developmental projects to pump into his transport business. "He makes Rs 500 on each truck transporting limestone to cement industries. On an average, close to 300 trips are made by these trucks to the factories [every day]," he says.

On Karsanbhai's claim that the BJP, if returned to power, would ensure that the Narmada river waters are brought to Porbandar district, Jaiprakash retorts, "These BJPwalas keep on telling lies. Tomorrow they will say that they will bring the Ganga and Bhagirathi from the sky."

The Congress is reminding the people about the work done by Vijaydasji Mahant, head of the Kabirpanthis and a minister for ten years, in bringing water to the parched region. They promise that Bharatbhai would install new pipelines and get tankers to transport water.

Caste equations, for once, do not seem to matter in the constituency as all the three candidates are from the majority Mehr community, who constitute around 65,000 heads in the 144,000-strong electorate.

There are 17,000 voters from the Rabari [also called Maaldari] community. Harijans constitute around 12,000 voters and the Patels around 15,000. There are close to 17,000 Ahirs and around 6,000 Muslims, who are being wooed by Samajwadi Party. 

At a public meeting, attended by Samajwadi Party president Mulayam Singh Yadav, Bhurabhai Munja promised to protect the Muslims.

Photograph: R Swaminathan

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