By D N Singh
Pending the media exit poll this evening, now India eyes on the poll underway in Gujarat.
All said and done, the Assembly poll in Gujarat surely going to be the topic for anxiety for all the political parties in the fray.
More so, for the BJP there in power and the its central leadership exerting all its pressure to retain its hold in Gujarat which is as old as 22 years and with the face of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi beeping with a glitz, it has become all the more important and a prestige issue for the BJP and the PM in particular.
On the background, the scenes those have emerged into the political orbit, it is a tough fight in the offing because it all depends how the people of Gujarat look at the issues those dominate their interest.
So far, in Gujarat poll, no national issue has amped the campaigns so far.
It remains to be seen, the Aam Admi Party, which has thrown its hat into the ring and made huge claims for a win in Gujarat not necessarily be taken lightly.
Contrastingly, the campaign by the Congress in Gujarat has remained very low key. With its poster boy Rahul Gandhi busy in Bharat Jodo Yatra, the onus has come on the shoulders of the octogenarian Mallikarjun Kharge who appear doing a few carpet bombing against the PM, Modi.
Even poll analysts remain with their fingers crossed whether AAP would eat into the vote bank of the Congress or it would erode the vote chunks of the ruling BJP.
“ You cannot ignore the fact that, being in rule for more than 22 years, anti-incumbency factor has to weigh on the BJP” said Bhargav Parikh, senior journalist and analyst in Ahmedabad.
The other factor that may trouble the BJP is the rebel factors. One does not know how many of them have been cajoled but looking at the Rupani led government’s removal, when the BJP removed the lot in ministerial positions, were simply replaced by new ones. That was a big churning of loyalty.
Which left a room for some undercurrent of dissent within the cadres those may reflect through and it did, rebel candidates jumping into the fray.
“Vaghodia assembly segment there are two BJP rebels and surprisingly, Madhu Shrivastav, a six-time BJP legislator who was replaced by Ashwin Patel, the district president of the party for Vadodar, can be a big divider of votes”adds Parikh
So, whether Gujarat is to witness the results of a triangular fight among the BJP, the Congress and the AAP; or it was a multi-cornered fight that keeps analysts puzzled.
