What Chaitar Vasava’s 7-year jail term means for AAP’s Gujarat plan

Ever since he was elected Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA from Dediapada in Gujarat’s Narmada district in 2022 with a margin of over a lakh votes, Chaitar Vasava built a political persona centred around confrontation.

He argued with public officials, challenged policemen at protest sites, and demanded to supervise the post-mortems of tribal youths who died under suspicious circumstances, projecting the image of a leader in an endless battle with the state machinery. Many of these confrontations were recorded in videos that made the rounds on social media.

Among his supporters in Gujarat’s tribal belt, particularly in Narmada and Bharuch districts, Vasava’s defiance is his identity. His sustained demand for a Bhil Pradesh — a separate state carved out of the tribal pockets in Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Maharashtra — captured the imagination of tribal youth in the region.

And now, Vasava faces a seven-year jail term after a court convicted him in a case of assaulting forest officers and extortion. His wife, Shakuntala, and seven others have also been convicted in the case.

According to the prosecution, forest officials who removed a cotton crop cultivated on illegally occupied land were called to Vasava’s home to discuss the issue. There, he threatened the officials, slapped one of them, and fired a pistol in the area. The accused, including his wife, extorted Rs 60,000 from the officials for removing the crop, the prosecution told the court. After the verdict, Gujarat Assembly’s Deputy Speaker Purnesh Modi said Vasava has ceased to be a legislator and his seat is now deemed vacant as per the provisions of the Representation of the People Act.

The judgment and its fallout threaten to derail Vasava’s electoral future ahead of the 2027 Gujarat Assembly elections and have also upended his unconventional domestic life.

A setback for AAP

For AAP, Vasava represented an indigenous tribal leader who did not depend on politics imported from Delhi, but drew strength from his own local influence. His growing stature allowed AAP to challenge the BJP in districts where the Congress had steadily declined.

The party’s good performance in the local body elections in Narmada district in April owed much to Vasava’s organisational network and personal popularity. Even periods he spent in prison or under restrictive bail conditions did not significantly diminish his influence. If anything, they appeared to strengthen his standing among sections of voters who interpreted legal troubles as “political persecution”.

BJP leaders admit that the party increasingly viewed him as a long-term challenge and not just another opposition MLA.

The Vasava persona

Vasava’s political persona is combative and rooted in the frustrations of the state’s tribal communities. A graduate in Rural Studies from a college in Bharuch district, he began his public life helping tribals navigate government offices and welfare paperwork in Dediapada before briefly serving as a Gram Sevak in the Agriculture Department in Surat district.

Politics, however, proved a stronger calling. He quit his government job in 2015 to join hands with tribal leader Mahesh Vasava, first in the JD(U) and later in the Bharatiya Tribal Party. While Mahesh fought polls, Vasava worked on the ground, managing campaigns, taking up local grievances, and confronting officials over tribal issues.

In 2022, Vasava took a gamble and joined the Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP, and contested and won the Dediapada seat.

The blow to family

The seven-year conviction threatens not just Vasava’s political future, but also upends his family life.

Vasava’s political campaign has possessed an unusual feature – his two wives, Shakuntala and Varsha, both of whom have played active roles in rallying support for him.

His personal life has long fascinated supporters and critics alike. Shakuntala, a two-term member of the Narmada district panchayat, entered electoral politics long before her husband’s rise to prominence. She provided institutional experience and local networks during the years when Vasava was still emerging as a political organiser.

Varsha’s political journey followed a different trajectory. Unlike Shakuntala, she entered public life because circumstances demanded. She stepped in after an FIR was registered against Vasava and Shakuntala in the case in which he has now been convicted. Shakuntala was arrested, and Chaitar surrendered later.

With two political faces of the family in custody, Varsha handled organisational responsibilities, addressed workers and addressed public meetings, reading letters by Vasava from jail.

Varsha and Shakuntala worked together during the 2024 Lok Sabha election campaign after courts ruled that Vasava’s bail would be cancelled if he entered his home turf.

The conviction means more responsibility for Varsha. She must now wage the legal battle against the conviction. There is also a personal aspect to this fight. Four children at home, including one born to Shakuntala, are under Varsha’s care since the legal troubles began.