After four state election victories, BJP eyes retaining Gujarat
The party will leave no stones unturned to retain its fortress of Gujarat with a two-third majority.
After retaining four states, including the prize catch of Uttar Pradesh, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had set its eye on Gujarat which it has ruled for more than two decades. The two-day visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, where he had participated in the Gujarat Panchayat Mahasammelan and other similar people outreach events, highlights that the BJP will leave no stone unturned to retain its fortress of Gujarat. The state will go for polls in December this year. Multiple sources within the Gujarat BJP had confirmed that the internal survey conducted by the party is predicting that the BJP will retain the state with a two-third majority and the results of four states which were recently declared had only strengthened the belief of the state unit and workers.
In the last three-weeks, many senior leaders from the Indian National Congress (INC) had joined the BJP, including two-time former MLA from Lunawada Hirabhai Patel, former Mehsana Congress president Rajendrasinh Darbar, party spokesperson Jayrajsinh Parmar, and former leader of the opposition in the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation Dinesh Sharma. Six Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) corporators from the Surat Municipal Corporation had also joined the BJP in recent months in the run-up to Assembly polls. The party is also conducting multiple internal surveys on
all the 182-Assembly seats to find out about local antiincumbency against MLAS, if any.
One senior state Vicepresident of BJP said, “The party’s leadership’s focus is now on Gujarat. In the next few months, you will see many visits by the Prime
Minister and the Home minister. The state organization is well prepared for the elections. In the last five years, we have won every local bodies poll in the state. The change of the entire cabinet had generated a pro-incumbency in the state.” On the issue of opposition in Gujarat,
he added, “Congress will booth level since the last oneyear. be our main challenger, but They had workers in this time they will struggle to more than 18,000 villages of cross 50 seats. It is good for the state. The central leadership a healthy democracy to have is conducting surveys at an opposition.” the taluka (sub-division) level;
In the 2017 Gujarat Assembly ticket distribution will be polls, the BJP had decided after this feedback. won 99 Assembly seats and The Congress had appointed had faced some serious resistance a new president and leader from the Congress of opposition, but it will not which won 77 seats. Since be an easy ride for them. As long, Gujarat has been a bipolar far as the Aam Aadmi Party polity with the BJP is concerned, I don’t see and Congress as two prime them as serious contenders players. In the last elections, as they don’t have a strong the BJP polled 49.05% votes, organizational base in the while the grand-old-party state unlike in Punjab. They polled 41.44% votes. This need to work for five years time, AAP will also try to to emerge as a challenger. put a challenge in front of the Those who won corporation BJP at the cost of Congress. elections on AAP tickets
Talking to The Sunday had joined the BJP in recent Guardian, Jayesh Amin, a months. The BJP’S election political commentator who machinery and feedback had covered the state widely, system in Gujarat looks unmatched.” said, “BJP is working at the