Surat: Congress had sent at least 10 former ministers of Rajasthan to campaign in Majura, Choryasi and Udhna constituencies during Gujarat assembly elections in 2017. BJP was not far behind with many national leaders of the party and Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje Scindia visiting Surat twice.Congress candidate from Majura constituency Ashok Kothari, who lost by more than 80,000 votes to BJP’s sitting MLA Harsh Sanghavi, had entered into the political fray with a firm belief that his Rajasthani brethren will ensure his victory in the assembly election. Majura constituency has nearly 70,000 Rajasthani migrant votes out of the total 2.05 lakh votes and was the main vote bank for Kothari. However, when the results came out, Kothari received a meagre 30,000 votes. This reflected to a fact that more than half of the Rajasthani voters remained with BJP, while rest were influenced by Kothari’s candidature.In Choryasi assembly segment, a chunk of votes that went to Congress is considered directly responsible due to the influence of former Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot. Gehlot had campaigned extensively with Congress president Rahul Gandhi in the city and local level relationships developed in Rajasthani managed to swing some votes for the party.Unlike Gujarat, Rajasthan election results are never similar. In Gujarat, since last five assembly elections, BJP has been sweeping the state. However, in Rajasthan, every second assembly election changes the fate of the ruling party. It is very certain that Rajasthani votes in Surat city on local level may belong to the BJP. However, when it comes to polling in their home state and constituency, things change.Federation of Surat Textile Traders’ Association (FOSTTA) president Manoj Agarwal said, “Our people are smart enough to make their choice during election. It is not necessary that they will support the same party in Surat and Rajasthan as well. A person may vote for BJP in Surat due to local connections, but may ask his acquaintances in Rajasthani to vote the other way.”

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