The win not only silenced opposition Congress and rebels within the state party unit but the BJP top brass invited the third time Chief Minister to Delhi for its strategy session.
AHMEDABAD: Wallowing in his unconventional image, Narendra Modi fought odds in 2007 and cleverly mixed saffron ideology, development and Congress slip-ups during the assembly election campaign to lead the BJP to a spectacular victory in Gujarat.
The win not only silenced opposition Congress and rebels within the state party unit but the BJP top brass invited the third time Chief Minister to Delhi for its strategy session on assembly elections coming up in other states in 2008.
The relevations in the Supreme Court on the Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case led to the arrest of three IPS officers of Gujarat and Rajasthan and 10 other policemen.
It also got the election ball rolling after Congress President Sonia Gandhi's "maut ke saudagar" (merchants of death) comment directed against Modi, which he turned to his advantage.
The chief minister's campaign focus till then had been the development plank, and the Congress had tried to nail it since Gandhi started electioneering from Dahod in the state.
Modi then used his oratory on the audience, justifying the Sohrabuddin Sheikh killing, going full steam on 'Hindutva' mode and weathering the storm.
The hustings also hosted a verbal sparring bout between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Modi. Singh told the people that they were "at the mercy of god" if they opposed Modi, who retaliated by asking them whether they knew him (Singh).
The BJP rebel group, which waited for five years, came out in the open with Keshubhai Patel, Suresh Mehta and Kashiram Rana - who earlier directed young MLAs from backstage - leading the attack.
The rebels organised farmers rallies under the banner of Sardar Patel Utkarsh Samiti and Patel and Mehta also shared podiums with Congress leaders.
Bharatiya Janshakti Party chief Uma Bharti was roped in, but she later opted out on the advice of her 'guru'.
In the end, the Congress had a grand alliance of BJP rebels, Nationalist Congress Party, Lok Janshakti Party, Left parties, BJS candidates barring Bharti, but to little avail.
Modi single-handedly led BJP campaign addressing 125 election rallies when the RSS and the state VHP unit decided not to support the BJP in an organised manner.
For the first time, his campaign managers used innovative 'Modi masks' to garner the people's support. Masks have been used in the west but by opponents as a weapon of ridicule with US President George Bush being a case in point.
They took to an aggressive internet, television and newspaper advertising blitz and the results showed BJP won 117 seats, the Congress 59.
The ghost of the post-Godhra riots was for the time being forgotten and conventional wisdom proved wrong. Modi earned praise from NRIs, especially the Patel community abroad, and also a section of the media that had been berating him.
The other issue that rocked the western state was the fake encounter case.
Gujarat cadre IPS officers D G Vanzara and Rajkumar Pandian along with Rajasthan IPS officer Dinesh M N were arrested by the state CID (crime) for the alleged fake encounter killing of Sohrabuddin Sheikh and murder of his wife Kausar Bi in April. Vanzara and Pandian are in jail while Dinesh has been granted bail.
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