Gujarat polls: Struggling with narrative, BJP pins hopes on PM Modi
Ruling party seems to be on
a sticky wicket in terms of the political narrative in the state
LATEST
NEWS: With his international
travel commitments taken care of and his government ensuring there would be no
winter session of the Parliament for another three weeks, Prime Minister Narendra
Modi is unencumbered enough to launch a blitzkrieg of a campaign in
Gujarat. The PM is expected to address a rally in each of the 33 districts of
Gujarat from now to December 12, the last day of campaigning for the second
phase of polling.
Gujarat votes on December 9 and 14.
Both the Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are busy finalizing their
list of candidates for the 89 of the 182-seats that poll in the first phase.
These seats are in the Saurashtra-Kutch and South Gujarat regions. The lists
are likely to be announced by Thursday evening.
However, the BJP is on a sticky
wicket in terms of the political narrative in the state. For once, the BJP
election strategy in Gujarat had become defensive. Until now, it has relied on
the Congress to make a mistake. Unfortunately for the BJP, that hasn’t
happened. Whatever the eventual results, political observers in the state say
the Congress campaign has seldom been run as efficiently since 2002.
Congress Vice President Rahul
Gandhi has shown consistency in attacking the BJP and the Modi government on
economic issues, and how the Gujarat model of development is a “hoax”. He has
studiously avoided engaging the BJP on emotive issues of nationalism and
religion. He has resisted from indulging in calling the PM names. The Congress
leader has also respected the religious sentiments of the Hindus in Gujarat by
visiting temples often.
Comments
Post a Comment