Anant Patel, Congress' Tribal Confidence From Valsad Constituency (image@AnantPatel1Mla)

The Indian National Congress fielded Anant Patel from Gujarat’s Valsad constituency. He became MLA for the first time in 2017 from Vansda constituency of Navsari district. Belonging to Scheduled Tribes category, he is considered as the most prominent tribal voices in Gujarat. Patel has been the most trusted tribal candidate of Congress for a long time.

Congress is vying for the seat by lacing this fierce candidate who is well-known for his strong languages against oppositions. Last year, he made it to the headline for tearing down Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s picture. The incident happened in 2017. He was fined with Rs 99 in a case that accused him of entering the chamber of vice chancellor of an agricultural university and tearing down the picture of PM Modi.

He was charged under IPC (Indian Penal Code) section 447, for criminal trespass. The incident happened during a students’ protest. The court ordered to deposit a fine if Rs 99, failing of which they will be sentenced to seven days in prison.

During 2022, he was allegedly attacked by BJP workers. Patel said he was attacked while he was traveling, and the attackers made castiest slurs saying that they will not let an Adivasi to become a leader. The incident ahs caused huge protest, as massive crowd of protesters emerged vowing to block all the 14 districts if the attackers were not arrested. The issue came when the state was preparing for the 2022 assembly election.

He advocated against the Par-Tapi-Narmada river link, which was announced by the Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman during her fourth budget speech. The series of protests has led the ventral government to stop the project involved in the linking of five major rivers of India. The halt came after the protest of over 5000 tribals under the leadership of Patel.