One of the most debated seats in the Gujarat Lok Sabha elections was Banaskantha. The reason for this debate was that the Congress won here alone. However, on the other hand, the election of Diu-Daman, which is adjacent to Gujarat, was also interesting and the result was also shocking.
Here, not BJP or Congress but an independent candidate contested and that candidate is Umesh Patel. Umesh Patel has been elected as an independent from Daman-Diu in the Lok Sabha elections.
According to the informants, looking at his campaign, it seemed that he was not contesting against a candidate of parties like BJP or Congress but against Daman-Diu administrator Prafull Patel. The Daman-Diu Lok Sabha election battle became interesting with his entry and he defeated three-term BJP MP Lalu Patel.
What equations were created in the Union Territory of Daman-Diu that Umesh Patel won?
Calculation of Daman-Diu Lok Sabha seat
Daman-Diu Lok Sabha seat is a separate constituency comprising the two geographical regions of Daman and Diu. The distance between Daman and Diu is 653 kilometers. Both the geographical regions are distant from each other and yet they fall in the same Lok Sabha seat.
Daman-Diu is a union territory with administrator holding the reins of government while separate elections are held for Lok Sabha MPs. Prafulla Khoda Patel is currently the administrator of Daman-Diu since 2016.
In existence since 1987, BJP and Congress MPs have been elected alternately in this Lok Sabha seat. Since then, BJP MPs have been elected six times and Congress MPs have been elected four times from here.This time for the first time an independent candidate has contested from here.
According to Damanganga Times resident editor Vikas Upadhyay, "In the Daman-Diu Lok Sabha seat, the largest number of voters belong to the Koli Patel community. This is followed by Tandel and Kharwa voters. A very large number of non-Gujarati voters are also there."
Mostly Koli Patel or some representative of Tandel community gets ticket from here. However, according to him, caste is not the only factor responsible for winning elections here. This time the result was shockingDaman-Diu Lok Sabha seat has 1,34,189 voters. The number of voters in Diu area is more.
The BJP this time fielded its three-term MP Lalu Patel while the Congress fielded its district president Ketan Patel. Umesh Patel, contesting as an independent, also contested in 2019, but finished third. This time he nailed it and got 46.02 percent votes defeating the BJP candidate by 6225 votes. Umesh Patel got 42523 votes.
"Diu has more voters than Daman and Umesh Patel got more votes from Diu," says Vikas Upadhyay.
Two other candidates named Umesh Patel were also contesting on this seat.
Which issues dominated the election?
Since Daman-Diu Lok Sabha is a union territory, elections are usually contested here based on local issues. But this time the issue of administration along with local issues remained at the center of the election campaign.
It is worth mentioning here that Umesh Patel has been fighting against the policies and decisions of Daman-Diu administrator Prafull Patel for six-seven years continuously. Vikas Upadhyay says, “Umesh Patel keeps saying in his speeches that he will get the administrator Prafull Patel transferred within 15 days after his election. So, that was the biggest factor in this election. Also, Congress showed no interest in campaigning, while BJP remained overconfident. Which has directly benefited Umesh Patel."
"As for the people of Diu, they are always dissatisfied that no one is looking out for them. They are always upset with the administration. Hence, this time too they got huge votes from there."
Local journalist Yogendra Patel also agrees that this election is Umesh Patel Vs. was of local administration.
What does the BJP have to say on this issue?
BJP candidate Lalu Patel was elected here for the last three terms but this time he has been defeated. However, the BJP rejects all the allegations leveled against the administrator, including by the opposition.
Daman-Diu BJP district president Aspi Damania says, “We campaigned in this election keeping in mind issues like BJP development, Modi ki guarantee and Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas. But the Congress weakened and its candidate became inactive, which directly benefited the independent candidate.”
He rejects the allegations against the administrator Prafull Patel and says, “Umesh Patel has won elections by opposing the administrators and development. This same administrator has done a lot of development works, due to which Daman-Diu has become a tourist spot today. He has done many things like diesel VAT subsidy to fishermen, Jampore beach redevelopment.”
47-year-old Umesh Patel also contested the Lok Sabha elections in 2019 and came third. He runs a business and is a social worker. Umesh Patel has studied B.Com and is also doing re-graduation in Arts.
He runs Swami Vivekananda Vidyalaya in Nani Daman area at his own expense. In which the children of class one to ten are given education in Hindi and English medium.He also runs NGOs named Swami Vivekananda Yuva Mandal and Daman Youth Action Force .
Vikas Upadhyay says, “Umesh Patel is a well-known face of public life in Daman-Diu. He runs an organization called Youth Action Force. Be it electricity issue or any other, in the last five years, he has been constantly voicing the people's issues."
Pramod Nagar says, "Umesh Patel has been in politics for the past ten years but before that he has been involved in social activities for many years. He has also served as the vice-president of the Koli Patel Samaj. He has a good command in Daman." According to Yogendra Patel, he had to go to jail two or three times while fighting for the people's issue.
In the past, Umesh Patel was detained on charges of abetting a criminal in the suicide case of a person working as a clerk in his school . Later he got bail. He also fought against the privatization of electricity department and had to go to jail. Umesh Patel has succeeded in becoming an MP, but according to the informants, his future is more difficult.
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