Gandhinagar: In lieu of general elections of the State Assembly in Gujarat scheduled to be held in December, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to visit Bhavnagar for a road tour on September 29. The BJP has not lost an election in the state since 1998, but with AAP in the picture, this year will create history with the 'Tripartite War'. His trip is expected to set the tone for the Gujarat assembly elections, complementing the party's philosophy of relentless campaigning and ground connection with voters.
In the purview of the Prime Minister's roadshow in Bhavnagar city, ETV Bhara spoke to political analyst and veteran journalist Jayesh Shukla on the political scenario of Gujarat. Speaking about the strategies that the BJP has been adopting, Shukla said that since Modi has taken charge as the CM, his specialty has been interacting directly with the people.
"In the years 2014 and 2019, Modi tried to win public mandates by holding road shows. This year is no exception with the first road tour being initiated from Bhavnagar. Aam Aadmi Party's Arvind Kejriwal has so far visited Bhavnagar twice to put AAP's roots here" Shukla said.
"This year too, Modi intends to personally inspect the ground-level influence of the Aam Aadmi Party in Bhavnagar ahead of the Gujarat Assembly Elections 2022. It's through this visit that if he finds there is any resentment among the public, he shall make a concrete attempt to alleviate it," he added. Bhavnagar 104 is the East assembly seat where PM Modi is scheduled to conduct a roadshow from the airport on his arrival in Bhavnagar.
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While Bhavnagar has been a BJP stronghold for years, AAP's entry into Gujarat is likely to affect the votes in favor of the BJP. Former Education Minister Vibhavari Dave is currently the MLA from the Bhavnagar constituency, who won by 22,000 votes in 2017. In 2012, Dave had won by 39,905 votes, exhibiting a decrease in the vote count. BJP has six out of seven seats in the district with Congress only in Talaja.
This year's Gujarat Assembly Election will see a different mode of contesting and selection of candidates as all three parties -- bBJP, Congress, and AAP -- have geared up for the election. This is AAP's first Assembly Election from Gujarat and a lot of factors will be taken into consideration to rule out BJP from its home state, Shukla opined.
