Katargam Election 2022: Can AAP's Gopal Italia upset BJP's arithmetic in this Surat suburb?

Katargam is one of the few constituencies to go to polls during Gujarat Elections 2022. It must be kept in mind that since it was carved out in 2012 following a delimitation exercise, the BJP has held its reins. As many as 89 seats will face the ballot on December 1, while the remaining 93 of the 182 seats will go to the polls on December 5. Results for Gujarat assembly elections will be declared on December 8. 

BJP that has been in power in Katargam since 2012 had a lot of claimants for the ticket. It eventually picked Vinod Mordiya. Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) fielded Gujarat state unit president Gopal Italia, and Congress fielded Kalpesh Variya. 

Katargam is a stronghold of the Patidar and Prajapati communities. Mordiya and Italia are Patidars, while Varia is a Prajapati – both communities are the dominant ones. There are 90,000 registered Patidar voters, while there are 75,000 Prajapati voters. The constituency in the suburbs of Surat also has many diamond polishing units and textile looms, both of which hire a lot of migrants. Katargam, hence, also has a sizeable migrant community. 

The Prajapati community, reportedly, started mobilising last month as it aimed to get tickets from all parties. They also organised an Ekta Yatra rally.

Meanwhile, BJP does not have a visible Prajapati leader in Surat, except for Niranjan Janjmera. If the Patidar vote is split between AAP and BJP due to their candidates, Congress would stand. It remains to be seen if Italia will upset BJP’s calculation in the seat. 

In the 2017 elections, of the 2.77 lakh voters in Katargam, 1.25 lakh voted for Vinod Mordiya, while Congress’ Jignesh Jivani only received 46,157 votes.

Katargam is one of the 16 seats in Surat. BJP had won 15 of them in 2017, while Congress had won only one. 

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Also read: Gujarat Election 2022: Full list of 89 constituencies going to polls in Phase-1