New Delhi: The past four assembly elections in Gujarat were polarized over separate issues but it was the first time in two decades that the 2022 elections are being fought over issues such as 'bijli, pani, sadak', the Congress noted on Thursday saying the ruling BJP faced a huge anti-incumbency.
The grand old party, which has been out of power for the past 27 years, further claimed that the new entrant AAP was actually denting the support base of the BJP while the percentage of voters backing the Congress was intact.
“If you analyse the past four assembly polls, all of them were polarized over an issue. In 2002, it was the Godhra incident, in 2007, it was the formation of the Patidar Utkarsh Samiti, in 2012 it was Keshubhai Patel’s rebellion and in 2017, it was the Patidar Movement,” former Gujarat CLP leader Paresh Dhanani told ETV Bharat.
“It is the first time in twenty years that there is no polarization and the polls are being fought over bijli, pani, sadak which directly affect the people. They are talking about jobs, price rises, education and healthcare. The BJP is facing questions over these issues and is therefore not able to divert public attention. This has created a huge anti-incumbency for the ruling party,” he said.
Though the Congress has been claiming that the Gujarat contest is only between the ruling BJP and the grand old party, the entry of Delhi-based AAP has made the 2022 polls three-cornered.
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Most poll watchers fear the AAP would dent the Congress votes and leaders of the grand old party to have blamed the new entrant for joining the fray just to divide anti-BJP votes. Over the past few days, Congress communications in-charge Jairam Ramesh and Rajasthan chief minister and AICC observer Ashok Gehlot, besides all senior leaders, have alleged that AAP was the B team of the BJP in Gujarat.
Dhanani had a different take on the issue. “I think the entry of AAP will bring gains for the Congress,” he said.
According to the former CLP leader, the two key segments of voters who formed the bulk of the BJP’s supporters - those above 25 years of age who were lured by the saffron party’s promises and those below 25 years who got brainwashed as a result of the ruling party’s social media campaign – were the ones who were excited over AAP’s entry in the fray.
“We have seen in the past that any third force has never succeeded in Gujarat. Those who were committed to Congress ideology are intact,” said Dhanani.
Putting up a comparison between rural and urban voters, the senior Congress leader said that in the villages people usually vote under a group mentality and this would keep the poll fight between Congress and BJP.
“The city voters are driven by so-called waves. They may shift from BJP to AAP due to propaganda campaigns. The AAP will surely dent the BJP in cities. However, I don’t see the AAP winning any assembly seats. They don’t have a leader. They don’t have a cadre and are working mostly through paid workers. Of course, they are spending heavily on advertisements as well,” said Dhanani.
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Citing a recent remark of PM Modi where he said that the Congress was campaigning silently in the Gujarat villages which in turn provoked Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal to wonder if the premier was batting for the grand old party, Dhanani claimed that it signalled the threat that BJP was facing from AAP.
According to the Congress leaders, having realized that the December polls were more about public issues and less about sentiments, the grand old party’s Gujarat campaign has been designed around the everyday concerns of the people.
“The BJP has done only two events in the past year at the party level. Most other events were the ones in which government machinery was used,” AICC in-charge of Gujarat Raghu Sharma said.
“The BJP is worried as they are suffering from infighting. This is why the election date announcement was getting delayed but they had to do it and face democracy,” he said.
Sharma, who has been travelling across the state along with senior leaders supervising the party’s campaigns and voter outreach drives over the past months, claimed the Congress was on a strong wicket in the western state while a perception was created that it was nowhere on the ground.
“We had 77 MLAs in 2017. Some left us over the past five years but we still have 63 lawmakers in the assembly. We have worked hard for the polls. Our workers have travelled every nook and corner, every lane of the constituencies. We have strong booth-level teams this time. We are going to the polls with a positive agenda and we are confident that we will form the next government. All this will show on the results day,” he said.
