Ahmedabad: The city’s municipal election in year 2000 stands out as one of the most violent civic contests, remembered for bloodshed, cancelled polling and a rare Congress return to power. Sep 17, the polling day, was marred by deadly unrest in Dariapur, Juna Wadaj and Kubernagar wards.Police opened fire in the Dariapur ward, killing six people and injuring 18. The scale of the disturbance forced authorities to cancel voting entirely in Dariapur ward, while polling was suspended in one booth each in Juna Wadaj and Kubernagar. A curfew was clamped on parts of Dariapur to bring the situation under control. Despite the chaos, polling was held across 43 wards for 129 seats, with each ward electing three corporators. The Congress won 65 seats against the BJP’s 59, and secured the backing of five independent corporators, enabling it to form the civic body after being in the opposition for 13 years. Congress went on to sweep all three wards affected by the disturbances. The re-election in Dariapur ward, held in Oct, saw the party win all three seats there as well. Former mayor Himmatsinh Patel, who led the Congress-run AMC, recounted the numbers behind the victory. “The 2000 municipal election was held for a total of 129 seats across 43 wards in the city. Sixty-five Congress councillors won, and the party received support from five independent councillors. Congress governed successfully with the support of 70 members for five years,” he said. Former Dariapur councillor, Hasan Khan Pathan, popularly known as Hasan Lala, described the events as deeply painful. “That day, chaos erupted in the Dariapur ward, leading to the cancellation of voting. The election was marred by bloodshed, and innocent citizens were killed in police firing. A month later, a re-election was held and Congress won all three seats,” he said. Pathan recalled how rumours inflamed an already volatile situation. “On voting day, a rumour spread that I had been shot, and many of my supporters gathered at VS Hospital, where those injured in the violence were admitted,” he said. Pathan, who first won the Dariapur ward in 1995 and contested again in 2000, said the violence still haunts the city. “The chaos and shooting incident on the voting day made the 2000 election a painful memory,” said Pathan, who served as a Congress councillor from 1995 to 2015. The 2000 verdict proved to be Congress’s last hurrah in the AMC. The party held power for just one term before the BJP recaptured the corporation in 2005 and has won consistently since.
