Left entry in right bastion: SFI state gen secy wins sarpanch election
Gandhinagar: Student activist and lawyer Satyesha Leuva, who was elected earlier this month as the Gujarat state secretary of the Students Federation of India (SFI), a left-wing student organisation, won the sarpanch election from her native village Vadvasa in Sabarkantha district.
Leuva, 25, who fought her first election for the post of village sarpanch, emerged victorious in a three-way contest, defeating Pushpa Leuva by a margin of 104 votes. SFI is the student wing of CPM. "This is the first time that anybody from the SFI has won any election in the state," Leuva said.
Leuva said that Vadvasa does not have a primary health centre.
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"It will be my topmost priority to ensure the village gets a PHC along with a library for the students to study and aim big in life.
Better roads, more classrooms in the school, and allocation of houses to all eligible beneficiaries will also be prioritised," she added.
Gram panchayat polls held for 8,326 village panchayats, results of which were declared on Wednesday, threw up several hits and misses in interesting poll battles.
A total of 8,326 gram panchayats went to polls in 33 districts of the state on June 22. The gram panchayat elections were held for the first time with 27% of seats reserved for candidates from the other backward classes (OBC) communities.
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Among other surprising results, Kiransinh Parmar, son of Bhikhusinhji Parmar, minister of state for civil supplies, social justice, and empowerment, lost the sarpanch election from Jitpur village of Modasa taluka in Aravalli district. Kiransinh lost to Mangalsinh Parmar by a margin of 623 votes.
In a similar case, Trikam Ahir, son of ex-BJP minister Vasan Ahir, lost the sarpanch election in Ratnal village in Anjar taluka of Kutch to Sariyaben Trikambhai Varchand.
Two women, co-mothers-in-law whose children are married to each other, pitted themselves against each other after one refused to pave the way for the other to be elected unopposed. In Juna Ugla village of Gir Gadhada taluka, Jayaben Dangodra defeated her rival Bhavnaben Nandwana, who was the village sarpanch for the past ten years.
In Ishwariya village in Amreli district, octogenarian Motiben Sandarwa started her new innings as a public servant.
Speaking to the media, Sandarwa said she was enthusiastic about doing development work. In Dhrangda village of Jamnagar taluka, Ramesh Kansagra, 61, was elected sarpanch for the sixth time.
In Veja village of Rajkot district, it was a contest between cousins Yogendrasinh Jadeja and Jaydevsinh Jadeja. Jaydevsinh was the earlier sarpanch, but the entire gram panchayat was dissolved about six months ago. The village elected a new sarpanch with Yogendrasinh emerging victorious.
Ashish Rabari, 23, was one of the youngest sarpanches to be elected in the election. He won from Juni Sedavi village of Mehsana district and said after his victory that he will work for the development of facilities in the village.
Sarpanchs of three village panchayats had to be determined by picking chits, as rival candidates for the post of sarpanch polled equal votes. These included Nadri village in Mansa taluka of Gandhinagar, Dabhari village in Olpad taluka of Surat, and Patel Dhunda village of Meghraj in Aravalli district. In Padhariya village of Mehsana taluka, Ratansinh Chavda won the sarpanch election by just one vote.
Celebrations were witnessed in all villages that went to polls, with winning candidates and their supporters celebrating the victories in the gram panchayat elections.
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