Even as the Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) tall claims of winning Gujarat were swept away by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which won 156 of the 182 seats, one of their five winning MLAs, Chaitar Vasava, is standing out for another reason — his kutcha house.
Vasava, who secured 1,03,433 votes (55.87%), winning Dediapada by a margin of 40,000 votes, lives in this house with his two wives.
AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal had come all the way to Jhagadiya to form an alliance with the Bhartiya Tribal Party (BTP).
This alliance did not last long, but Kejriwal managed to get support from Vasava, who later joined the AAP and fought this election on the party’s ticket.
‘VICTORY OF PEOPLE’
Vasava did door-to-door campaigns. His wives, Shakuntala and Varsha, and the whole family campaigned for him and put in their best efforts. Vasava says, “In the history of Narmada district, no leader had managed to get one lakh votes till this election. This is not the victory of Chaitar Vasava or the AAP, it’s the victory of people.”
Vasava says during his tenure as an extension officer, he realised how tribal people were not getting benefits of the schemes meant for them. Ten years ago, Vasava and Shakuntala started working for people. Varsha, a nurse, also joined him later and married him. Both the wives live under one roof.
‘WILL SOLVE PROBLEMS’
Vasava hails from Bogaj village in Dediapada. Vasava said that he had to do hard labour and work on farms to pay for his education. After his graduation, he worked as a Gram Sevak for some time, but later left this job. “While serving as a Gram Sevak, I had an office where I used to work for people for free. People used to flock to me to get work done. Many used to ask why I did not join politics, saying people like me would bring about a change,” he said.
In a fix, he quit his job after a week, but that meant no source of income for his family. He joined the BTP and for the next five years, kept working for the people of the area. His hard work has finally paid off, say villagers.
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