AHMEDABAD: As campaigning for the first phase of Gujarat assembly polls involving 89 seats came to an end on Tuesday for voting due on December 1, a war of words between the ruling BJP and Congress erupted over a remark of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge about PM Narendra Modi.
Addressing a public rally in Ahmedabad’s Behrampura on Monday night, Kharge said, “We see your (Modi’s) face in corporation elections as well as in Assembly and Lok Sabha elections everywhere. Do you have 100 heads like Raavan?”
Replying to Kharge’s remark, the BJP accused the Congress of insulting the Gujaratis and appealed to voters to “teach the opposition party a lesson.” BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra called on Gujarat voters to cast votes for the “son of the soil” Modi to avenge the insult” in a democratic way.
Of the 89 seats out of the total 182 where polls will be held on December 1, as many as 35 constituencies are spread across the southern districts of Bharuch, Narmada, Tapi, Dang, Surat, Valsad and Navsari. The polling is also due in 48 seats of Saurashtra and six seats of Kutch district.
In 2017, the BJP had managed to win 25 of these 35 seats while the Congress and Bharatiya Tribal Party won eight and two seats, respectively. Of the 14 seats reserved for the STs, the BJP won only five.
While the tribal-dominated areas are still considered BJP’s Achilles’ heel, urban voters in south Gujarat stood firmly with the party in 2017.
In the first phase, the elections will be held on 48 seats of the Saurashtra zone, considered the centre of power in state politics.
Due to the pro-BJP tilt of Patidar voters in Saurashtra, the party’s seats have steadily increased over the last two-and-a-half decades. However, during the Patidar reservation movement, BJP suffered a loss in the 2017 polls. That is why Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given importance to Saurashtra in his Gujarat tour to marginalise the loss in 2022.
The results show that in 2017, out of a total of 48 seats in Saurashtra, the Congress won 28 seats, while BJP won 19. BJP is worried about 2017 results, which is why it started aggressive campaigning for the last six months. A huge cooperative meeting was held in Amreli district in the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah, in Rajkot and Morbi BJP National President JP Nadda held a road show. Prime Minister Narendra Modi also held meetings in Saurashtra, including those in Junagadh and Jam Kandorana, before implementing the model code of conduct.
