Statehood demand rises where individuals prevail over parties

The politics in Gujarat’s watering holes, the Union Territories (UT) of Daman and Diu, has always been individual driven. Since 1987, there have been a number of instances where an individual has prevailed over party politics. The current Lok Sabha election is also witnessing a new trend — the demand for statehood.
In the 1980’s, the two Tandels—Devji Tandel and Gopal Tandel—from the local fishing community, had represented the Union Territory of Daman and Diu.Till the turn of the century, both the Tandels, either as independents or on party tickets, continued to win the trust of local voters.
For people of the UT, these were the only names known when it came to parliamentary elections. Gopal Tandel won the Lok Sabha seat twice, while Devji Tandel won the seat thrice in this period.
In the 21st century too, two more individuals emerged — Dahya Patel and Lalu Patel. While Dahya became MP twice on Congress tickets and lost as an independent once, Lalu, contested the LS election for the first time on a BJP ticket in 2009 and won.He was re-elected in 2014 as well.
This is a clear indication that for the 1.21 lakh voters of the UT, party symbols are not important. Local leaders like Devji Tandel, Gopal Tandel and Dahya Patel have contested on various party symbols, but have managed victory based on individual capacity.
The trend is likely to continue in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections with a powerful independent candidate, Umesh Patel, in the fray against BJP and Congress.
In the last few years, residents of Daman, especially small traders and those involved in the liquor business, have been facing lot of issues due to the strict administrative measures taken by the UT administration. Daman has seen raids by Gujarat police on a large scale and many liquor businessmen have been declared wanted in smuggling cases.
On the other hand, locals who were operating eateries on the beaches of Devka and Jampore have lost their livelihoods in the demolition drive taken up by the Daman administration to build the coastal highway and widen roads.
The independent candidate for the Daman and Diu seat, Umesh Patel, is the president of the Daman Youth Action Group, formed three years ago to address local issues.
Speaking to TOI, Umesh said, "I have been taking up local issues for the last 22 years. In the last three years, steps taken by the administration have ruined our economy. No major political party has come forward to resolve these."
He added, "In our manifesto, we have demanded statehood for Daman and Diu. When small north eastern states can get statehood, why not Daman, Diu and Dadra & Nagar Haveli (DNH)?"
This demand raised by Umesh has been picked by locals and is gaining traction. Lalu Patel, the sitting MP and BJP candidate, claimed, "There is support for the BJP. The contest is between BJP and Congress and the independent will lose his deposit."