Poll fever has gripped all sections of society in Gujarat. Surat's diamond industry is no exception as over 80% diamond cutting and polishing factories have announced a voluntary holiday on Thursday to allow its workers to cast their franchise.
Polling for the first phase of state assembly elections is taking place in Saurashtra, South Gujarat and Ahmedabad rural areas.
"There is an unprecedented enthusiasm for voting this time. Over 80% factories have given a holiday today considering assembly elections in Surat as well as in Saurashtra, from where many workers have migrated," said Dinesh Navadia, president, Surat Diamond Association (SDA)
Surat's diamond industry employs about 400,000 workers. Most of them are migrants from different parts of Gujarat, mainly Saurashtra as well as other states including Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.
"Most of the workers, who will cast their vote are from different parts of Gujarat, while many others who have migrated from other states and settled here for many years now are also expected to exercise their voting rights. The mood is upbeat for voting this time. There is better clarity on issues and people are not getting carried away by poll promises," informed Aagam Sanghavi, director, Sanghavi Exports, a leading diamond exporter in Surat.
According to industry players, this is an unusual incidence of declaring a holiday on poll day by the privately held units. "To my knowledge, this is for the first time that the diamond units have voluntarily declared a holiday allowing its workers to vote," said Navadia.
Surat district has 16 assembly constituencies, of which Varachha Road, Karanj and Katargam constituencies are mostly dominated by diamond traders, diamond unit owners and workers.
Trader sources maintained that the excitement is high mainly because of Keshubhai Patel, a strong leader from Saurasthra is fielding candidates under his newly formed party, Gujarat Parivartan Party (GPP).
"There is much excitement as many from Saurashtra perceive Keshubhai as their leader, while ruling party and the opposition party too have fielded their candidates from these areas. So the competition is fierce," Navadia said.
