Muslims choose to contest on their own in Godhra

Vadodara: It's a direct contest between BJP and Congress in just six wards out of 11 in Godhra, the ground zero of 2002 Gujarat riots, when municipality elections are held on Sunday.
Neither parties have put up candidates in the five wards dominated by Muslims. Sources said that the Muslim candidates are also reluctant to fight from either party. In the last municipality polls too, the independents had dominated affairs in the minority pockets of the town.Out of the 18 minority candidates elected in 2010, only three were from the Congress even when the party had contested on all the seats. As many as 15 independents had won the polls.
The ensuing elections will see polls for 11 wards and 44 seats. Out of these, 20 seats are in five the minority-dominated wards. Also, the Congress and BJP are contesting just 24 seats in the remaining six wards. In these wards, the Congress has put up three Muslim candidates where there is a mixed population. Of the total 62 minority community candidates, only six are contesting from Congress.
Strong candidates from minority dominated wards have traditionally avoided taking party symbols. "They have been doing so since several years now and this has become a tradition there. The party that has the larger number of seats gets their support ," said BJP state general secretary Shabdasharan Brahmbhatt.
For the Congress, the system works well as it wants to avoid any squabbles in ticket distribution that may spoil the party's chances in the bigger assembly and parliamentary polls.
"If one person is given a mandate, others get antagonized. This time, the state leadership was keen on contesting all seats but decided against it after representations from local members," said Panchmahal Congress vice president Rafiq Tijoriwala.