Gujarat poll war in 'naya daur'

Ahmedabad: It is not only the Gujarati businessmen who show dynamism in trade, but also the political parties here appear to be adopting new style of campaign during the 2022 Assembly elections. They don't seem to be depending on grand narratives alone now. The BJP in particular is directly pinging local voters with hyperlocal messages. It has appointed dedicated 'VotesApp' (WhatsApp) administrators to send messages to the voters. The focus of these admins is to disseminate the party campaign highlights of 'Ame Banayu Gujarat' and 'Double Engine Sarkar'.

The BJP has about 30,000 such admins to directly connect with the voters. They have also created a special team of young warriors to canvass through their social media handles, hashtags and shoot down the criticism of the Opposition parties and assess what is clicking with the netizens. The BJP now has 'Page Pramukhs', who target voters in the age group of 40-50 years.

Not to be left behind, the Opposition has also started following the BJP and has gone in for 'Surrogate' campaign. There is another team which targets the ruling party over the issues of unemployment and infrastructure in colloquial Gujarati. One such posting said: 'Vikas Gando Thayo Chhe' (Development has gone for a toss). It is a section of Patel youth who are said to behind this style of campaign. Another posting said: "Vikas ko Gujarat ko kya hua hai." The poll war which would basically be between the BJP, Congress and AAP in certain pockets is all set to get intensified as Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be leading the electoral blitzkrieg from Wednesday.

The state is set to go to polls on December 1.

If the present trends are any indication, the BJP appears to be set for an easy win. According to pollsters, it may even improve its numbers as compared to 2017 elections. The Gujarat Assembly has 182 seats. The BJP this time may bag about 127 as against 99 last time. The Congress is likely to win about around 30 seats while APP may open its account with 10-20 seats. The AIMIM too may get two seats.

The ruling BJP continues to be strong in North, South, Central and Saurashtra Kutch regions. The Congress is not very strong in any of these regions. AAP may perform better more in Saurashtra region.

Advantage BJP

"Gujarat voters are questioning BJP's remote-controlled government," says Opposition. But it is of no advantage to the Congress or AAP.

True. The citizens are unhappy over many issues and it is a fact that there is anti-incumbency factor since the BJP has been in power for over two decades which is not a small period.

That's why AAP felt that it could cash in on the anti-incumbency factor and entered the poll arena in Gujarat.

Gujarat had seen many agitations like the Patidar's, led by Hardik Patel, the OBC agitation, led by Alpesh Thakore, the Dalit agitation, led by Jignesh Mevani, Farmers' agitation, led by Sagar Rabari and Kanu Kalasariya, ASHA (health) workers' agitation, part-time teachers' agitation, small traders' agitation, fixed-salaried workers' agitation and the like.

But then the Gujaratis are Gujaratis.

They are not too sentimental like the voters of South. For them, at the end of the day what matters is development. That is where the BJP seems to be having additional advantage as Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been hijacking important projects to Gujarat. And the kind of infrastructural development that is taking place in the state is something which has gelled very well with the voters.

"Development important che," is what an Ahmedabad businessman says.

The dissent voice is seen mainly in the old city of Ahmedabad. However, the greatest advantage it has is a very strong party organization and election machinery.

The Congress has Sevadal but it is now defunct. Rahul Gandhi too has skipped Gujarat during his walkathon. The biggest minus point for Congress is that it does not have a charismatic leader.

On the other hand, the BJP ministers are not in a position to command public meetings. In such a situation, the entire responsibility to get the BJP win falls on the shoulders of Modi and Amit Shah.