Building dreams: Construction labourer shoots for LS seat

In an election season filled with high-profile campaigns and powerful parties, one independent candidate’s sheer audacity has marked him as an unexpected challenger.

Babubhai Jethabhai Gohil—who is contesting the upcoming Lok Sabha 2024 elections from the Jamnagar constituency—describes himself as a daily-wage labourer who dropped out after Class 1 back in 1960. His decision to stand for these elections comes from a desire to give back to society, he said.

As he told Gujarat Samachar, he hopes to improve the situation of those around him. “I have been sent to earth to do good and serve society. That is why I am contesting the election,” he said. 

The Jamnagar Lok Sabha Constituency has 18,54,056 voters across five Assembly constituencies in Jamnagar district and two assembly constituencies in Devbhoomi Dwarka.

A resident of Jamnagar’s Mariya Colony area, Gohil works in construction, earning about ₹800 a day. He owns a PAN card, but has not earned enough to file income tax returns in the past five years. According to his nomination paperwork, Babubhai Gohil owns assets worth ₹1.48 lakh and has about ₹70,000 in cash. His home-maker wife has assets of ₹1.5 lakh, and about ₹10,000 cash. 

Moreover, in an age where budgets for social media campaigns run into lakhs and crores, Gohil is not on any such platform; neither is he named in any police complaint or civil suit—making him a truly unique candidate.