Gujarat Elections: Congress Counts On Local Campaign, Disappointment With Ruling BJP

The Congress has brushed aside queries over its visibly subdued Gujarat election campaign and has said it's counting on its localised outreach.

The Congress has also said the star-studded campaigns of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will not work as star campaigners are a "waste" of time.

Lalit Vasoya, Congress MLA from Dhoraji, and expressed confidence to PTI of another win on the back of his constituency outreach and people's "anger" with the state government. Besides calling star-campaigners a waste of time, he said the mainstream media is often "pro-BJP". 

Vasoya shrugs off queries about his party's visibly subdued campaign and says he has instead relied on visiting nearly all the 80 villages and three municipalities of his constituency besides using social media to reach out to his voters. Come December 8, and the Congress will again do well in Saurashtra region, he said.

In Tankara, another constituency in the region won by the Congress last time, party workers say their MLA Lalit Kagathara is the biggest "star" in the constituency due to his work and accessibility to constituents. Party supporters Anil Bavaliya and Sikandar say the price of edible oil has more than doubled in recent years and a cooking gas cylinder is costing over Rs 1,100 and add that these are the real issues for people who will again vote for the Congress.

However, there is an acknowledgment about the presence of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) which has been able to create a buzz with its high-decibel campaign while a section of voters believe that the Congress has been unable to mount a strong enough challenge against the BJP and Arvind Kejriwal's party deserves a look-in.

In Tankara, BJP's candidate Durlabhji Dethariya, AAP's Sanjay Bhatasna, and the Congress nominee are all from the Patidar community. Which way the AAP's vote will impact the poll outcome is anybody's guess but there is a view that across the region it may impact the Congress more than the ruling party which has a committed vote base underpinned by its ideological vigour.

Riding on the Patidars' agitation against the BJP, the Congress had won 28 out of 48 seats in the region in 2017. The ruling party has since worked to bolster its strength by wooing over a number of local heavyweights from the Congress.

That the Patidar agitation has fizzled out with many of its key figures, including Hardik Patel, now in the BJP has given the party hope that it can leave its rival far behind in the largely rural region where its poor show had given it a scare last time.

Local Congress leaders believe, a view shared by the BJP as well, that their party remains the foremost challenger to the incumbent and will also be helped by farmers' "woes" under the government. They add the Congress candidates are mostly seasoned organisational leaders who have been able to withstand the BJP's blitzkrieg, they say.

"There may be no agitation like the (Patidar) quota stir seen last time but people's disappointment with the state government has deepened. I can't see the BJP doing any better than last time," the Dhoraji MLA says.

Saurashtra will go to the polls in the first phase on December 1 along with Kutch and south Gujarat. The second phase is scheduled for December 5 while the counting of votes is due on December 8. 

The traditional bipolar electoral contest in Gujarat has turned into a triangular contest this time with the entry of AAP, which has made a slew of populist promises just like the Congress. The AAP has promised to bring 'Delhi Model' to Gujarat, free water to farmers, Rs 3,000 unemployment allowance, and waiver of electricity bills. Some of the key promises in the Congress manifesto are 10 lakh jobs in government and semi-government departments, free medical treatment of up to Rs 10 lakh, LPG cylinder at Rs 500, 300 units of free electricity every month, unemployment allowance of Rs 3,000 per month, Rs 2,000 pension to divyangs, widows, senior citizens and needy women, and waiver of loans of up to Rs 3 lakh of all fishermen.

The BJP has ruled Gujarat for over two decades. Retaining Gujarat will be a matter of prestige for the BJP as it's the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. It was as the Chief Minister of Gujarat that Modi secured the post of the BJP's prime ministerial candidate in 2014.

(With PTI inputs)