Gujarat polls: Daily wager contesting as independent

Representation pic

A daily wage worker whose slum colony in Gujarat's capital Gandhinagar was razed in 2019 to make way for a hotel, raised Rs 10,000 in Rs 1 coins from his supporters and deposited that amount with the Election Commission so that he can contest the next month's Assembly polls.

The contestant Mahendra Patni is fighting the election from the Gandhinagar North seat as an independent candidate. He said the displaced residents of 521 huts in a slum near Mahatma Mandir in Gandhinagar that were demolished three years ago, asked him to contest the election as their representative.

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Patni was one of the residents of the slum which was twice razed, first in 2010 when the government constructed the Dandi Kutir museum dedicated to Mahatma Gandhi and later in 2019, for the construction of a hotel.

"Before being displaced, we had electricity in our slum. After we were forced to relocate to another area near the hotel, there is no water or electricity and no politician comes to our aid," Patni said.

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