Diamonds did not shine for the Maha Gujarat Janta Party. In a debut election for the party formed of the BJP rebels, the result remained quite lacklustre in comparison to the campaign that had startled the BJP camp in Bhavnagar.

The party had fielded candidates on 16 seats, including six in Saurashtra. It won none.

MJP president Gordhan Zadafia became the first non mainstream party candidate to generate heat after he ran his campaign, focusing on the downfall of the diamond industry in Bhavnagar. But it did not translate into a win for him.

Though the victory margin of four-time BJP Parliamentarian Rajendrasinh Rana has shrunk to little over 10,000 from 84,000 votes in 2004, the MJP ran short of creating a history.

Does it mean the issue of the diamond industry, which both BJP and the Congress did not raise despite the closure of over 10,000 units, rendering several lakh workers jobless and leading 50 workers to commit suicide in Amreli, Bhavnagar and Surat, did not matter?

MJP general secretary Sunil Oza said: “The diamond industry issue did matter. That’s the reason Zadafia secured 1.5 lakh votes in Bhavnagar, incredible for any new party in Gujarat.”

Rana added: “In a triangular fight the margin is always likely to decrease. Things have started improving in the diamond industry. The issue did not stand.”

He further said: “I won because of support from the party workers and the voters’ faith in me.”

The Congress believes the MJP played a spoiler more for them than the BJP in Bhavnagar. “In Saurashtra, the Patels voted in a large number for the Congress. But in Bhavnagar, Zadafia got all the Patel votes instead of our Kshatriya candidate Mahavirsinh Gohil,” said Shaktisinh Gohil, Bhavnagar MLA and Congress leader.

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