BJP may need more of PM amid signs of class lineup

THERE WERE CLEAR SIGNS OF RURALURBAN, POORRICH DIVIDE ALONG CLASS LINES ON AHMEDABADRAJKOT STRETCH, A TREND THAT TRANSCENDED THE CASTE HIATUS

NagarandMorbidistricts,Icountenancedaneclecticmixofdisenchanted electorate: farmers, dailywagers,joblessyouth,small businessmen and lowly government servants.

Theywereanencyclopaediaof complaints, each one of them havingastorytotell: official apathy in ensuring minimum supportpricesforfarmproduce;systemic corruption; lessened incomespostdemonetisationand GST; arm-twisting bylegislators and growing unemployment.

There were clear signs of a rural-urban, poor-rich divide on class lines. The trend transcendedthecastehiatusasDalits andOBCstalkedthelanguagethe Patidars did— albeit with less ferocity.

Articulated variously, their concerns were common. Called ‘khedut’ in vernacular Gujarati, farmerswereatthemercyofprivatetraders.Waitinglistsat agro marketsarelong, the per farmer purchaserestricted to 70 sacksof 35kgeach.Thepaperworkatthe mandis is huge, the growers forced to bribe officials at several levels. Even on completion of tedious formalities, the gap between sale and receipt of money is 20-30 days.

“SomuchforDigitalIndiaand Aadhar identification,” rued Mansukhbhai, a Leuva Patel, at anagriculturecooperativeinRajkot. “I won’t vote for the BJP but I suspect they’d make the grade again...”

The incongruity inherent to the argument is the leitmotif in popularscoresofangst,ofspontaneousoutpouringsthatoftenconcludewithpredictionsofahappy ending for the BJP. It has a lot to do with Modi’s image of invincibility, the power he wields and the disbelief that he can be felled on his home turf. That too as Prime Minister.

AtDhrangadhrainSurendranagar, a disabled carpenter showed me a cluster of houses built under the Garib Aawas Yojna. His has been an eternal wait for the spartan dwelling for whichhepaidabookingamount. The entrance blocked by wild growth, the premises lies in waste. Built as if for a crop of weeds!

The carpenter’s income has halvedafternotebandi.Thesame is true of aclutch of stone cutters who cursed the local legislator’s middlemen. But Rahul Gandhi hasn’tcomeseekingyourvotes,I asked. “So what? Did the BJP MLAcomeaftergettingelected,” counteredGopalParmar.Heput acaveathowevertothespontaneous outburst: “we won’t vote to defeat Modiji, we’dvotetodefeat his party leaders here...”

In simple terms, it can be explained as local anti incumbency. At Halvad taluka, in the Morbi hubofceramicindustries and at Rajkot, anger is more against sitting MLAs and the state administration. Illustrating that as much were farmers in CharadvavillageaccusingaBJP leader of blocking supply of Narmada water to his opponents, in the area with scarce ground water.

Onealsoheardsporadicvoices against the PM on demonetisation and GST. But that aspect of the popular mood was understated— even deferential. The Centre’s decision to cut GST on ceramicproductsto18% hashad a salutary impact on the ₹5,000 croreturnoversectordominated by Kadva Patels in Morbi town. Butthecountrysideremainsdotted by Patidar villages declared out of bounds for the BJP.

Those upfront in their criticism of the PM are from among therebelliousPatelsseekingquotas.TheyventvitrioloversexCDs in circulation against Hardik Patel.“Ifnota23yearold,willa63 year old diabetic do sex,” is the refrain. Recalled in that vein is theNaliyasexscandalinwhicha BJP leader allegedly pushed many girls into prostitution.