Maharashtra Trickle-down Effect Churns Gujarat
BY
R.K.MISRA
The
political developments in neighbouring Maharashtra where a Shiv
Sena-NCP-Congress government assumed
office has had a trickle down effect in
Gujarat with both the ruling BJP and the Congress opposition going into revamp
mode.
Though
the process was triggered off in Gujarat
after the by-election results in which underdog Congress came from behind to
bag three of the total six seats and narrowly missed a fourth one. It gained
urgency when the BJP found itself outwitted and outclassed in government
formation in Maharashtra despite bagging the highest number of states. If the
BJP manoeuvre is borne out of a debacle, an energized Congress is cutting flab to become a lean-mean
fighting machine.
Gujarat
is the home state of both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and home minister and BJP chief Amit
Shah. Both had been assured by chief minister Vijay Rupani and state party
chief Jitu Vaghani of a clean sweep. The
Gujarat results, which came alongside
Maharashtra and Haryana ,proved a shocker.
Four
of the six seats fell vacant when BJP legislators were elected as MPs while two
Congress legislators high profile Alpesh Thakore and acolyte Dhavalsinh Zala,
quit to join the BJP and were promptly given tickets. However,both were
defeated.
In
fact, the ruling party had pulled out all stops and had boasted of repeating
it’s Lok Sabha performance in the state by bagging all the six seats. Congress
,in effect retained two of its own , bagged a third(Tharad) where youth
Congress leader Gulabsinh Rajput won and narrowly missed a fourth seat. In
Amraiwadi constituency of Ahmedabad, the BJP received the fright of a lifetime
and managed to forge ahead only in the last round.
The state party and government faced the music for the dismal outcome in the
Gujarat by-elections and both the Prime
Minister during his last visit as well as Shah had given a piece of their mind
to Rupani, Vaghani, deputy chief minister Nitin Patel and home minister
Pradipsinh Jadeja.
Prime
Minister Modi has been unhappy with both Rupani and Vaghani. He was clearly
seen cold shouldering the state party chief
during his last two visits to the state. Rupani too was kept away from
the last function of the Prime Minister at the Statue of Unity(SOU).
It
is near certain that a revamp in both the government and the party is on the
cards. Rupani may survive for the moment because of the backing from Amit Shah
but Vaghani faces the axe.
In
the case of Rupani as well, it is being increasingly felt that the party cannot
go into elections in Gujarat in 1922 under his leadership. The ruling party was
frightened out of its wits in the 2017 Gujarat assembly elections when Congress bagged 77 seats and brought the BJP tally to one below a hundred.
Nine seats less and it would have been toppled from its power perch. In the
period thereafter at least ten Congress legislators have been weaned away ,
some being made ministers while others have
been accommodated with pay and perks.
Already,
the first signs of unrest are visible. BJP MPs have begun raising issues
concerning it’s own government. Devusinh Chauhan, MP from Kaira raised
questions against the home department, harassment of NRIs at the international
airport and the corrupt practices in play.
This is the third complaint against
the state government and the MP released
the letter he wrote to the home minister to the media. Similarly Anand MP
Mitesh Patel and Banaskantha MP Parbat Patel have also been raising issues
concerning farmers in Parliament including payment of crop insurance as well as compensation to farmers whose lands are being
acquired for the bullet train.
Interestingly,
the Gujarat chapter of the Bhartiya Kisan Sangh, the RSS affiliated farmer
outfit came down hard on the BJP ruled
government charging it with aiding traders instead of farmers. Using
harsh words it took the government to task for its poor data collection on
cultivation and the crop losses that the
farmers were facing. Addressing mediapersons BKS Gujarat chief Vithal Dudhatra went on record to state that
for the post ten years there is no record of crop cultivation data with the
government. ”If you don’t have data on crop cultivation, how can you have data
on crop loss”, he questioned adding that the state government is creating an
illusion to aid traders rather than help the farmers who are in distress and in
dire need of all assistance.
If
the BJP is going in for a complete overhaul of it’ apparatus from the grassroot
level to it’s highest echelons in the state, the Congress is also not lagging far behind. In fact just before the recent by-election results
were declared , the state unit disbanded
it’s state party set up leaving only the party chief Amit Chavda at the
helm.
The
disbanding exercise, in fact did not come as a surprise. Internal squabbles and the relentless poaching by the ruling BJP of it’s
legislators had queered the pitch for the revamp. Both Paresh Dhanani who is the leader of the Opposition in the
State Assembly and party chief Chavda
are in their forties and were the choice of Rahul Gandhi.
With
the by-election results coming as a shot in the arm for the Congress, the
stress in the new set up is likely to be
on giving greater weightage to grassroot workers of proven loyalty. The
previous ‘jumbo’ outfit is likely to give way to a lean-mean party machine, it is being pointed out.
The showing of the Congress candidate in the
urban bastion of Amraiwadi in Ahmedabad
during the recent by-elections where it almost snatched the seat before falling behind in the last
lap, has come as a morale booster to its workers. It is seen as a breakthrough
into the BJP’ s urban bastion.
Additionally, with Congress coming to share power in
neighbouring Maharashtra along with NCP and the Shiv Sena, has energized
the Congress party workers in the state. Plans are afoot to take on the
BJP government with renewed vigour on the issue of crop loss insurance for farmers. The new
party apparatus is expected to be in place by the end of the month.
With the
farmers ranged against the BJP in Gujarat and growing signs of unrest within, there are tough times ahead for the ruling
party in Modi-Shah’s own home !
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