Till 2009 lok Sabha elections, over 600 inhabitants of an entirely Christian village — Wallacepur — situated on the outskirts of coastal Bhavnagar in Gujarat, were staunch supporters of the Congress party.
However, following development as its main poll plank, the saffron party has managed to generate some support from here for the first-time ever.Notably, Wallacepur dwellers — all Protestants — are known for almost 100 per cent voting but primarily to the Congress. The winds of change, however, started flowing here after 2010 when the Gujarat Government, particularly Chief Minister Narendra Modi, aggressively resorted to development agenda.
Modi’s much-talked about Sadbhavana Mission also brought them little closer to the saffron party.The parish boasts of having 100 per cent literacy, they have also bagged the cleanest village award for two years in a row from the district panchayat.Such recognition and facilities like solar streetlights, water storage facilities, 24X7 electricity from the State Government’s Jyotirgram scheme and well maintained roads are some of the reasons due to which this section of villagers have started appreciating the ‘Good Governance’ model of Modi.
“We can’t give directives to the villagers about who they should vote for. There are people who are supporting various parties and they should utilise their franchise independently,” says Denial Alfredbhai, village sarpanch.
However, septuagenarian Theophil Vinodrai says that Wallacepur prospers with peace and tolerance despite being surrounding Hindu-dominated villages. “Just like other neighbouring villages, development work is equally at par here too,” he says.
“Before 2007 Assembly elections, we used to avoid campaigning in Wallacepur as a rule. However, gradually we started meeting them and made them aware about what the State Government is doing for them and other villages in the region. We managed to persuade them on inclusive growth process in the State,” said a local BJP leader in Bhavnagar.
The village of farmers is no different from any other parish in the region. However, as the name suggests, Wallacepur was established by an English pastor, Reverend Wallace in 1840.He brought the people from different parts of Gujarat and gave them a land here. Interestingly, most of the villagers know their Hindu lineage and the ‘caste’ they used to belong to.These settlers later adopted Christianity and built a large church in 1871. The villagers, however, know very little about the founder of village — Reverend Wallace.
All they know is he left after settling them.
