THE POLL PLANKS

➘ UNEMPLOYMENT

AAP and Congress have promised up to a million government jobs in Gujarat. AAP has even promised 80 per cent reservation in private jobs for Gujarat domiciles

➘ INFLATION: Both AAP and Congress are hoping to corner the BJP over price rise. The BJP counter includes two free LPG cylinders for Ujjwala scheme beneficiaries

➘ FREEBIES: As AAP unleashed its free electricity, education and healthcare promises, PM Modi triggered a national debate on the freebie culture. But the BJP has also announced its own ‘poll bonanza’. The Congress followed with a farm loan waiver

➘ WATER: Gujarat is a water-deficient state, but the Narmada dam project has brought relief. The BJP repeatedly brings it up to target earlier Congress governments for not giving permission to raise the dam levels, and AAP as rights activist and big dam protester Medha Patkar was once associated with it. But recently, the BJP had to scrap the Par Tapi Narmada Link project, after the tribals protested fearing they would be displaced. The project had proposed to transfer water from the water-surplus regions of the Western Ghats to the waterdeficit regions of Saurashtra and Kutch in Gujarat

➘ GUJARATI ASMITA: The BJP seeks votes in the name of Gujarati pride which, in its narrative, means letting the Modi-led BJP have a smooth run in the state and at the Centre. Modi is the mascot of this narrative, which also puts the opposition parties on the back foot

➘ HINDU NATIONALISM

There has always been a projection of the Modi-led BJP as the protector of the Hindus. In fact, Gujarat saw the first experiment with this narrative. The recent release of Gujarat riot convicts is another extreme extension of this narrative. It is so strong that even AAP has steered clear of criticising the move