Known as saffron laboratory of the country, Gujarat seems all set to prove the sobriquet right.
Known as saffron laboratory of the country, Gujarat seems all set to prove the sobriquet right.
Chief minister and BJP poster boy Narendra Modi’s popularity is towering and at present is debatably even more than party PM candidate LK Advani.
The Congress state unit, paradoxically, does not have a face. Things have not been going right for the grand old party – its pre-poll seat-sharing talks with the NCP failed, after which the Pawar party decided to field 18 candidates. This will surely divide the secular vote, denting the Congress’ chances.
Congress leaders realise this and are not overly enthusiastic about improving the 2004 party tally of 12 seats. The BJP, on the other hand, is confident of notching up 20 seats.
“Urban areas are not with the Congress. Tribal and minority loyalties are shifting,” a Congress strategist admitted.
Seeking a role in national politics, Modi is seeking an image makeover. If BJP sources are to be believed, the saffron party’s minority cell has around 20,000 members in the state. Hundreds joined the BJP last month, including a retired IPS officer Ali Saiyed, who was chased by mobs during the 2002 riots.
Advani, who is seeking a reelection from Gandhinagar for the fourth time, is, however, cautious. What could be bothering him is that the Congress candidate against him this time is a moneyed Kadva Patel, Suresh. The still unsolved mystery of death of two boys at the Asaram Bapu ashram in Sabarmati and the arrest of Sindhi leader and former cabinet minister Maya Kodnani in a 2002 communal riots case could also affect the voting pattern.
As for the other BJP candidates, they have been handpicked by Modi. A staggering 16 new faces have been fielded after dropping 10 sitting MPs and crushing even semblance of a revolt.
The Congress, on the other hand, is in disarray. While it continues to deal with revolts in several seats, shock exodus of party leaders to the BJP in the past three months has added to its woes. BJP sources put the number of migrants from Congress at around 10,000. The latest jolt was the migration of virtually the entire Bharuch (hometown of Congress strongman Ahmed Patel) district unit.
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