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A family affair

Haresh Pandya in Rajkot

It is a time that kith and kin get together to discuss politics in earnest. And some of them aren't even in the same parties.

For example, two brothers, Bimal Shah and Kiran Shah, are fighting the election from rival parties. Bimal is contesting on a Bharatiya Janata Party ticket from the Kapadvanj constituency while Kiran is riding on a Rashtriya Janata Party ticket from Khadiya.

But there are no differences in the views of B K Gadhvi, MP, and his son Mukesh. They found their respective niches, with the father fighting the Lok Sabha election from Banaskantha, while the son contests the assembly polls from Danta, also in Banaskantha.

There's also a grandfather and grandson who are fighting the Lok Sabha election from two different constituencies. The grandfather is Madhavsinh Solanki's father-in-law, who the Congress put up in the Anand constituency, while Solanki's son is contesting from the Borsad constituency.

Former MP Urmilaben Patel (the late chief minister Chimanbhai Patel's widow) has son Siddharth contesting from Dabhoi and Bharat Makwana, son of former Union minister Yogendra Makwana, is battling for the Sojitra constituency.

Meanwhile, four MLAs of the dissolved Gujarat assembly are hedging their bets, contesting both parliamentary and assembly seats. These include Chhotubhai Vasava, Ramanbhai Chaudhari, Vithal Radadiya and Bhagubhai Patel. Vasava, of the Janata Dal, is contesting from the Bharuch parliamentary constituency and the Zaghadiya assembly seat. Ramanbhai Chaudhari, also of the JD, is fighting for the Mandvi Lok Sabha seat and the Mangrol assembly constituency. Vithal Radadiya of the RJP is contesting from the Rajkot Lok Sabha seat and Dhoraji assembly seat. Bhagubhai is contesting from the Surat Lok Sabha seat and Olpad assembly constituency.

Three former MLAs -- Shaktisingh Gohil and Manubhai Kotadiya and BJP's Tersinh Damor, all of the Congress -- have now set their eyes firmly on Parliament.

There are also five former chief ministers and two former deputy chief ministers in the fray, all fighting the assembly elections. The former CMs are Amarsinh Chaudhari and Chhabildas Mehta of the Congress, Keshubhai Patel and Sureshchandra Mehta, all of the BJP, and Dilip Parikh of the RJP. The two former deputy CMs fighting the elections are C D Patel and Narhari Amin.

Yeh Hai India

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