Gearing up for Gujarat 2012
4 July 2012 2:10 AM GMT
With the state assembly elections due in the next few months, the political situation is hotting up with both the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and the opposition Congress going all out to woo the voters at the hustings.
It seems the Congress high command has learnt lessons from past mistakes and has therefore entrusted the responsibility of elections to former chief minister Shankarsinh Vaghela who is an arch rival of Narendra Modi and all senior Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee leaders have thrown their weight behind Vaghela at the instance of AICC leaders Sonia Gandhi and Ahmed Patel.
On the other side, the BJP has its blueprint ready for the polls. For the BJP, chief minister Narendra Modi is the lone star campaigner cum poll strategist who has already completed the first round of discussions with his core group about the performance of the sitting MLAs and even the senior ministers. It is learnt that Modi would again prefer only those as candidates who have succeeded in maintaining their clean and efficient image.
Through several rounds of Garib melas and other public functions across the state starting with Sabhavna mission and similar functions at the district level, Modi has almost decided who would be repeated and remaining MLAs rejected for the forthcoming polls.
After the trouble created by Sanajy Joshi and Keshubhai Patel, Modi has directed RSS functionaries to close ranks and see that the dissident BJP and Sangh workers remain away from damaging poll prospects in the 2012 assembly elections.
Despite the wordy battle launched by rivals, Modi prefers silence and continues his attack only on the UPA coalition led by Congress at the Centre. At a recent function in Rajkot where he shared dias with union minister Dinsha Patel who hails from Gujarat, Modi lambasted the Centre but appreciated the work done by Patel. Some are seeing this as an attempt to appease Patel voters of Saurashtra. In the last assembly election, Dinsha Patel had badly lost against Modi in Maninagar asssembly constituency of Ahmedabad. Political observers in the state are of the opinion that Modi continues to enjoy popularity among the masses and it would not be hard for the BJP to regain power for the third consecutive term this time.
It seems the Congress high command has learnt lessons from past mistakes and has therefore entrusted the responsibility of elections to former chief minister Shankarsinh Vaghela who is an arch rival of Narendra Modi and all senior Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee leaders have thrown their weight behind Vaghela at the instance of AICC leaders Sonia Gandhi and Ahmed Patel.
On the other side, the BJP has its blueprint ready for the polls. For the BJP, chief minister Narendra Modi is the lone star campaigner cum poll strategist who has already completed the first round of discussions with his core group about the performance of the sitting MLAs and even the senior ministers. It is learnt that Modi would again prefer only those as candidates who have succeeded in maintaining their clean and efficient image.
Through several rounds of Garib melas and other public functions across the state starting with Sabhavna mission and similar functions at the district level, Modi has almost decided who would be repeated and remaining MLAs rejected for the forthcoming polls.
After the trouble created by Sanajy Joshi and Keshubhai Patel, Modi has directed RSS functionaries to close ranks and see that the dissident BJP and Sangh workers remain away from damaging poll prospects in the 2012 assembly elections.
Despite the wordy battle launched by rivals, Modi prefers silence and continues his attack only on the UPA coalition led by Congress at the Centre. At a recent function in Rajkot where he shared dias with union minister Dinsha Patel who hails from Gujarat, Modi lambasted the Centre but appreciated the work done by Patel. Some are seeing this as an attempt to appease Patel voters of Saurashtra. In the last assembly election, Dinsha Patel had badly lost against Modi in Maninagar asssembly constituency of Ahmedabad. Political observers in the state are of the opinion that Modi continues to enjoy popularity among the masses and it would not be hard for the BJP to regain power for the third consecutive term this time.
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