In the heart of Karamsad town, with its bustling streets and storied history tied to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, a significant shutdown took place yesterday, a reaction to the recent incorporation of this area into the newly-established Anand Municipal Corporation. Protesters took to the streets to voice their concern over the way the government had virtually stripped the town of its unique identity, which had been nurtured under a separate municipality for more than forty years.
Since the announcement of the Anand Municipal Corporation going into effect on January 1, local organisations such as Karamsad have rallied against the decision that has placed their town under the jurisdiction of a larger civic body.
This recent bandh took forward the momentum created by a vibrant protest rally conducted by the Sardar Samman Sankalp Andolan Samiti. Shops across significant portions of Karamsad were shut down. Schools associated with the samiti halted classes, creating an environment of uneasy silence, the media reported.
Local law enforcement was engaged to maintain peace, ensuring that the situation didn’t spiral out of control.
Mithilesh Amin, chairman of the Sardar Samman Sankalp Andolan Committee, accused the government of being indifferent to the legacy of Sardar Patel. “The Narendra Modi-led BJP government banks on the image of Sardar Patel and (leaders) repeatedly visit Karamsad to entice voters. But they annihilated the identity of the place that Sardar Patel belonged to by including it in the Anand Municipal Corporation. It is our demand that Karamsad should be given a special status and identity of its own,” Amin was quoted as saying.
Even as the Samiti alleged that this decision was made overnight, keeping the public in the dark, senior officials from the Anand District clarified to a national newspaper that the boundaries of the Anand Municipal Corporation had been established in 2021-22. They reminded that Karamsad had been included in the civic body area since the proposal stage.
Rajesh Patel, the president of the BJP in Anand district, countered these claims, suggesting that the protests were motivated by political mileage.
