Vadodara as the election battleground for two giants belonging to the country’s two most powerful parties is a constant witness to high-end drama. However, the latest twist is the uncanny similarities between BJP’s PM candidate Narendra Modi and Congress’s Madhusudan Mistry.
The similarity lies in the fact that both the candidates hail from working class backgrounds and have achieved political stardom after years of unwavering loyalty. The candidates are in their 60’s and though both of them are representing Other Backward Class (OBC), they are contesting elections from open category seats.
Modi is set to play his OBC card as he contests his maiden Lok Sabha election and the vote bank politics will crank up the temperature. The Vadodara constituency, with nearly 4 lakh OBC voters from total 15 lakh voters, will see ruthless campaigning from both parties to grab the lion’s share of the vote bank.
The Congress has decided to reach out to sections of voters through different community leaders as well as members of specially formed cells. The BJP has a similar plan and has started playing the OBC card for Modi to score the victory margin.
Kalidas Mali, chairman of the OBC cell in Vadodara City, District Congress, said they have started meeting more and more such voters. “When we meet them, we explain about Mistry's humble family background, his hard work and an opportunity to 'have someone from us' as Vadodara leader,” he said.
As they reach out to voters by organising public rallies, road shows and area meetings, special attention is also being paid to OBC voters in the constituency. The Congress has chosen not to purchase caste break-up from agencies but reach them manually. And in doing so, Congress members are also working hard to encourage more OBC voters to cast their vote.
The ruling party that has seen victory in last two Lok Sabha elections, however, feels development in Gujarat will be a single-point campaign agenda.
“Vadodara is an urban seat and caste equation hardly matters here. It has been a BJP seat and people have faith in party's work. We have no special agenda to reach a specific category of voters as our focus is on getting everyone's vote,” said former mayor and BJP MP Balkrishna Shukla.
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