Local body polls: BJP pays price for bulldozer politics, draws a blank in Dwarka

For, even as the party swept the local body elections in Gujarat last week, winning 1,600 of the 2,178 seats, it failed to score even a single seat in Dwarka district — a traditional BJP bastion.

Out of the total 28 seats in Dwarka district, Congress bagged 15 seats and the AAP, 13.

Driving the results was seething resentment among the Muslim fishermen community in the area, who lost homes and livelihoods to the BJP's demolition drives. The community, which has tended to overlook the BJP's communal politics to vote it in repeatedly, appears to have said "enough is enough" this time.

Dwarka fights back

Dwarka, a coastal district and a Hindu religious centre in the Saurashtra region, has been a BJP stronghold traditionally.

In Salaya, a small town bordering the Arabian Sea in Dwarka, Muslims constitute 45 per cent of the population. The OBC community of Koli Patels forms 10 per cent while the Kharwas, OBCs again, form the majority.

Both the Congress and AAP had fielded Muslims candidates who won despite the fact that Muslims are not the majority in the taluka. The BJP’s candidates, who belong to the Kharwa community, lost despite being part of the majority community.

Also read: Gujarat: 128 Opposition candidates ‘go missing’ day before local polls

BJP lags in Porbandar too

The ruling party also suffered a major setback in Porbandar and Chhota Udepur districts.

In Porbandar, another coastal district in Saurashtra, the party's most significant loss has been the defeat of veteran local leader Dheliben Odedara. The 58-year-old Odedara, who had been winning the Kutiyana municipality since 1995, will now sit in the Opposition for the first time.

Despite being a BJP stronghold for a long time, out of the 24 seats in Porbandar, BJP bagged just 10 while 14 seats went to the Samajwadi Party (SP).

Interestingly, the SP, which contested the local polls for the first time, also got a major foothold in Chhota Udepur district, bagging six of 28 seats. The BJP won eight, the Congress got one, and the BSP bagged four seats while the rest went to Independents.

Demolition drives

In the three districts where the BJP suffered a setback, massive demolition drives have taken place for the past three years.

The saffron party first raised the issue in 2022, ahead of the state polls, and released a manifesto that claimed that the “BJP is working to remove specific community encroachment, which the Congress never did in the past due to vote bank politics.”

After this, Harsh Sanghavi, the state home minister, told the Gujarat Assembly in January 2023: “The BJP has not forgotten the promise it made. The bulldozer of (Chief Minister) Bhupendrabhai is coming for you.”

Muslims targeted?

Soon, a massive demolition drive began in Dwarka district that ended in January 2025. Over 1,200 homes were razed and boats and fishnets belonging to Muslim fishermen of Dwarka destroyed.

Thirty-six Islamic religious sites including several mazars, nine dargahs and three mosques and shops owned by Muslims fishermen have been razed to the ground since 2022.

Among the structures demolished was the Hazrat Pir Gunj Dargaj at Okha, a 1,200-year-old protected structure under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1958.

Watch: Illegal encroachments or targeted demolitions? Gujarat’s bulldozer drive sparks allegations

'Why vote for BJP?'

Ibrahim Pateliya, one of the fisherman who was displaced, told The Federal: “We lived in Dwarka and voted in many earlier elections for the BJP. Despite that, our homes were destroyed, bringing our family on the roads. Our boats and fishnets were destroyed, too. We have been doing odd jobs for the past two years struggling to earn even ₹150 a day. In the 2023 polls, our names were deleted from the voter list. After a year of struggling, we got back our documents.”

“Why should we vote for the BJP anymore?” he asked.

Since 2022, settlements belonging to Muslim fishermen across the state have been demolished and their boats destroyed, he pointed out.

Second phase

In March 2022, the BJP government carried out the second phase of its demolition drive in Porbandar. An entire village – Gosabra – that was home to around 300 Muslim fishermen was razed to the ground overnight.

In May that year, the fishermen and their families approached the High Court seeking mass euthanasia. The court refused to entertain the plea.

In August, it dismissed the petition and fined the community’s lawyer for "wasting the court’s time".

Resentment against BJP

Jivan Jungi, former president of the Fishermen’s Association of Gujarat, told The Federal: “Since the demolition drive began in 2022, we lost a lot of our workers who were Muslims. We follow an age-old system while fishing in Gujarat. For generations, Kharwas have been the best tandels (ones who catches the fish in the trawler), while Kolis are hired as helpers of the tandels and most of the technicians come from Muslim community.”

The fishing community in Gujarat is divided into three sub communities – Muslims, Kharwas and Kolis. While the Koli community, which is small, are largely fresh water fishermen, the Kharwas form the primary fishing community in the state. The Muslim fishermen who generally own small boats are typically engaged in catching shallow water fish, fish washing and drying.

Livelihoods lost

“Since the Muslims have been displaced, they also lost their tools and boats. Who will hire a technician with no tool box? In my own trawler, I have been managing with the helpers but if a serious malfunction was to occur in the trawler engine at mid-sea, these men will be of no use. Some of us waited for them to return to work. But with no money and home, they opted to do odd jobs than returning to fishing," Jungi said.

The women of the community, who were involved in washing and drying the fish, have also not returned to work, he said.

“The situation has impacted the entire fishing sector in Saurashtra and the whole situation has created a lot of resentment against the BJP,” added Jungi.