Modi delivers a right hook
On October 12, the Gujarat Congress was dealt a severe blow by the BJP with chief minister Narendra Modi's party sweeping elections to six municipal corporations.
After the civic poll results were announced, a pall of gloom descended on the GPCC headquarters in Ahmedabad. The party office wore a deserted look for two days.
Modi has been in the saddle since 2001. Nearly a decade on, he seems to have all but decimated the 130-year-old national party in Gujarat.
Unlike in the civic polls of 2005, the Congress did not even reach
the halfway mark this time around. BJP wrested all the six municipal boards with a thumping majority. The ruling BJP maintained its winning streak in the panchayat and other civic polls held on October 23. Elections were held for 24 district panchayats, 208 taluka panchayats and 53 municipalities. Out of the 24 district panchayats, the BJP won a clear majority in 21 while the Congress got a majority only in Gandhinagar and Tapi districts.Out of the 208 taluka panchayats, BJP won 123 and Congress 30. BJP won 42 of the 53 nagar palikas against Congress' meagre tally of 4. In the three taluka panchayats, the verdict was fractured.
It was clear that 'Modi magic' still works in Gujarat despite the many controversies that surround him, not the least of which involves his lieutenant and former state home minister Amit Shah.
Congress attributed Modi's victory to an alleged manipulation of the electronic voting machines. The party claimed that the elections had been rigged and the EVMs had been tampered with.
At a press conference held in Ahmedabad, former chief minister and Congress leader Shaktisinh Vaghela alleged, “The former officer on special duty in the chief minister’s office was responsible for manipulation. The EVMs were controlled by the CM's office.”
Vaghela wondered how on polling day, the vote percentage that stood at 25 per cent at 4 pm jumped to 44 per cent in the last hour. Interestingly, when a section of BJP leaders talked about EVM rigging in the 2009 Lok Sabha polls, the Congress leadership had described the allegation as an insult to democracy.
In a role reversal of sorts, BJP has now lashed out at Congress for its criticism of the EVMs in context of the Gujarat civic polls. BJP spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman said, “After being totally wiped out in the civic body elections as well as panchayat polls in Gujarat, Congress is now trying to put the blame on EVMs. They should instead introspect on why the people did not vote for them.”
The writing is indeed on the wall for Gujarat Congress. After the exit of late chief minister Chimanbhai Patel, the state Congress doesn’t have a leader with mass appeal. Various factions in the party are only interested in serving their own narrow interests.
This factionalism was seen in the ticket distribution before the polls. Various local Congress establishments were attacked by the party's own volunteers. Many official candidates found the pitch queered by rebellion within the ranks.
In contrast, Modi had begun preparations two years ahead of the municipal and panchayat elections. While the chief minister went about cementing his hold over the people, Congress played the blame game and accused Modi of “misusing” central aid and projects to increase his own popularity among the electorate.
Modi, on the other hand, tried to win over the common man by initiating
many popular schemes like Gunotsav, Garib Kalyan Mela, Kanya Kenavani Mela, Ranotsav, Patang Mahotsav, Vanche Gujarat and Vibrant Navratri. Critics say that he is wasting public money on these shows but results have demonstrated the efficacy of his strategy.Recently, the UPA government declared Gujarat as No.1 in implementing the 20-point programme. Whether it is the central plan or the state’s own projects, Modi has succeeded in implementing them all. His PR department is so strong that it never fails to publicise any achievement of Modi's.
After winning the civic polls, Modi asked partymen to start preparations for the next Assembly elections scheduled in 2012. The Congress leadership in the state is still unsure of the road ahead. Modi’s development plank has proved effective in neutralising issues like the Gujarat riots and Sohrabuddin Shaikh fake encounter case.
BJP and RSS accept that Gujarat is their laboratory and the first Hindutva experiment was carried out in this prosperous state. Up to the 2007 Assembly elections, Hindutva was an important poll issue but after that they realised that if the BJP wants complete majority then it should woo the minorities too. Modi proved this truism in these elections.
It was for the first time after the 1998 attacks on Christians in Dangs that Modi allotted tickets to Christians in the heartland of Shabari Kumbh. Muslims were also given BJP tickets. Christians accepted Modi’s call and all five BJP Christian candidates from Dangs were elected.
After two days of halla bol, Congress is silent now. Will the party reinvent itself to upstage Modi?
GPCC president Siddharth Patel, who resigned after the debacle, told the media that the EVMs were purchased by the Gujarat government five years back from a firm in Hyderabad and that these machines were outdated. “These days when one can manipulate another person’s mobile phone using bluetooth, how can EVMs be tamper-proof?” asked Vaghela, demanding that the Gujarat government should order a thorough and independent inquiry into the entire question of acquiring and employing the electronic voting machines in the recent elections.
After the thumping victory in the Gujarat civics polls, the BJP has done a complete volte-face on the EVMs issue after having consistently campaigned against the use of these voting machines since the last Lok Sabha elections. But, quite clearly, Modi's victory in the municipal and panchayat elections this time around is above board. It is the undeniable charisma of the man, not any covert manipulation of the machine in question, that has triumphed for the saffron camp in Gujarat.
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