The Lady – Leader who stopped Modi’s Hatrick in Gujarat

• Rajnikant Kad

In both the 2014 and 2019 general elections, BJP won 26 out of 26 Lok Sabha seats in Gujarat. Even this time too, BJP and Modi Ji were not only claiming to win all 26 seats, but were also boasting that they will win all the seats by more than 5 lakh votes. This arrogance-laden victory chariot of Modi Ji has been stopped by a woman from a simple farmer family - Geniben Thakor. Let us know about some unknown aspects of Geniben Thakor’s life and political struggle.

Geniben was born on June 01, 1975, in a small village ‘Abasana’ in Bhabhar tehsil of Banaskantha district of Gujarat. This village is located at a distance of 106 kilometers from its district center and the shocking thing is that according to the 2011 census, the literacy rate of women in this village is less than 38 percent. Geniben is the eldest of 5 siblings and her father Nagaji Thakor was a marginal farmer and the family’s source of income was farming and labor. At the time of Geniben’s birth, her father Nagaji Thakor was a member of the Block Panchayat but the financial condition of the house was not good.

Geniben says that she was able to get primary education from a small village, for which she will always be grateful to the pioneer of Gandhian thought and rural education and the founder of Lokniketan, respected Harisingh Chavdaji. Had pioneers of Gandhian thought like Harisingh Chavdaji - Dada were not here, then perhaps it would have been impossible for village girls like me to be educated.

The seeds of democratic leadership qualities were sown in Geniben during her school life. The school she studied in was named ‘Lokniketan - Backward Class Kumar and Kumari Hostel’ - it is an ashram school. For the smooth functioning of this ashram school, there were some committees formed by the students whose leadership was decided through elections. Geniben tells that when she was in the fourth class, she went to Harisingh Chawdaji and asked him, “Dada, can only boys contest the elections of these various committees - not girls?” After that, she became the first girl who not only contested the election for the post of President of the school’s prayer committee against a male child, but also won the election. After that, her secondary education took place in Uttar Buniyadi School, inspired by the ideas of Mahatma Gandhi’s Nai Talim.

Geniben’s political electoral journey started at the age of 18-19 years when she was elected as a member of the Block Panchayat for the first time and also became the President of the Diyodar Block Panchayat from the year 1995 to 2000. She contested this election on a general seat against a male candidate, but she expresses her gratitude to the Honorable Shri Rajiv Gandhi, due to whose inclusive ideas, the posts of President were also reserved for women at all Panchayat levels; due to which she was elected as the President of the Block Panchayat as it was a reserved seat for woman. On one hand, she was the Chairperson of the Panchayat Samiti and on the other hand, she had a 3-month-old son in her lap - she performed both responsibilities very well. Till 2013, she was elected as a member of the Block Panchayat Samiti thrice and once as a member of the District Panchayat Samiti. She has contested four assembly elections so far, in which she lost the first two assembly elections and won the 2017 and 2022 assembly elections consecutively and has also worked as the spokesperson of the Congress Party in the Gujarat Legislative Assembly in 2022. Geniben has been very active in organisational matters as well. She became the President of the District Mahila Congress at the age of 20-21 and also became the State Vice President of the State Mahila Congress. After that, she also became the State Vice President of the Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee.

Geniben’s struggle has been unprecedented. She says that ever since she entered public life, the Congress Party has never been in power in Gujarat - therefore, as a representative of the people, she has had to struggle with the ruling party and government departments throughout her life to get the work done for the people. In many cases, she has had to fight for justice for the people in the Gujarat High Court and the Supreme Court.

Many of her colleagues at that time were big Congress leaders of the district - who earned position, prestige and respect by being in the Party and also made wealth, but due to cheap popularity, fear or greed, they left the Congress Party and joined the BJP. But Geniben remained firm on her principles and ideas. According to Geniben, she had three options in that difficult time:- 1) Joining BJP for cheap popularity and out of fear or greed. (2) Getting disheartened and retiringfrom politics for some time. (3) Struggle and fight for the Party, its ideology and democratic values - fighting for the people.

She chose the third option - struggle and today she has emerged as a successful and strong leader. During this struggle, her father’s words always guide her. Geniben’s father - Nagaji Thakor was a ‘Kabir Panthi’ and a man of strong will. He never believed in ghosts or superstitions, but believed in the welfare of living beings. The words of her father that always encourage Geniben in the most difficult situations are, ‘There is no alternative to tremendous effort.’ Geniben says that her hard work and fearlessness come from these thoughts.

Before the Lok Sabha, Geniben has contested eight elections, all on unreserved seats and all against male candidates. The 2024 Lok Sabha election was the first election in which her opponent was also a female candidate. However, this election was a very tough election because Modi ji and BJP wanted to score a hattrick of winning 26 out of 26 seats in Gujarat. On one side, Geniben was fighting the election on the basis of Congress’ inclusive ideas and her own efforts, while on the other side, leaders from all cooperative institutions, leaders who had gone from Congress to BJP and some internal saboteurs, the district administration and police and Gujarat Legislative Assembly Speaker Shri Shankarbhai Chaudhary, despite being in a permanent post - all were trying their best! To defeat Geniben, the rival group got votes of their caste transferred from other districts to Katwa’s Banaskantha and also spent a lot of money.Congress workers were intimidated and threatened by the opposition. But Geniben did not bow down to these forces nor did she get tired. Amidst all these circumstances, the rally of Congress national leader Hon. Priyanka Gandhi in Banaskantha infused immense energy in the Congress workers. When there was a shortage of money to contest the elections, Geniben went among the people to seek help. The people of Banaskantha gave her both - money and votes and Geniben emerged as the first woman MP of Banaskantha. The daughter of a simple farmer family, from a remote village, strangled the arrogance of BJP and Modi in Gujarat itself based on the strength of her ideological commitment and hard work.

Geniben says that defeating the so-called election machine BJP or Modiji in electoral politics is no rocket science. If you work honestly and live a simple and inclusive life in accordance with the ideology of Congress, then even today, you can make your place in the hearts of the people as a political leader. People should feel that this politician is fighting for us; he/she will not trade upon our votes. In this way, by maintaining constant contact with the public, fighting for their justice, being involved in their joys and sorrows, and never leaving your ideological background and keeping direct communication with the hard-working workers of Congress, you can make your place in the hearts of the people and defeat even the most arrogant person.

She credits the Congress Party and its ideology for her victory and says, “Congress means the Party that works for the deprived and the exploited, the Party that has given the world the largest democracy, the Party that gives equal value to the votes of the poorest of the poor and the most powerful of the rich. Congress means the Party that goes a step ahead of nationalism and promotes humanism.” The Congress Party has never done anything that harms the country or the poor. Geniben says, “For me, the Congress Party means the Party of the poor – which I will never be able to leave as long as I am alive.”