2nd and Final Survey of Gujarat – Part 3 - Mood of Gujarat
2nd and Final Survey of Gujarat – Part 3
Mood of Gujarat
As the Gujarat Assembly Election 2017 draws closer, it is shaping up to be a very interesting battle. Less than 8 days are left for the first round of polling and less than a week for campaigning to stop. The million dollar question on everyone's lips is will BJP win again or not, and if they do, will they increase their seat tally.
As a matter of fact, the Gujarat polls appear to have little to do with the state itself. It is being seen as a contest between PM Narendra Modi and Congress president-in-waiting Rahul Gandhi, who has now been repackaged and appears to be far more self-confident.
For Rahul Gandhi and Dynastic Politics, this may be a make-or-break election.
The Gujarat Assembly Polls are also being seen as a referendum on PM Modi's most controversial decisions such as demonetization and the implementation of GST.
What is the mood of voters across Gujarat ?
They have taken demonetization in their stride but dislike the GST. They suffered during the recent floods. Farmers are in distress, Dalits angry and Patidars resentful. But when it comes to the crunch, they will vote for Gujarati pride — which means Modi.
During my visits to Surat and Saurashtra, this sentiment was starkly evident: Some said, “It’s the first Assembly election since Narendra bhai became prime minister and we will stand by him,” Some others – traders from Surat said that yes, we don’t want GST and have been badly hit by demonetization. We shall continue to agitate against GST. ‘ Hum BJP ko zhukayenge, Modi ji ko mayemge. Par hum itne bhi gaye gujre nahi ko Congress ko vote denge’. ( We shall convince Modi, make BJP bow in front of us. But we are not traitors to go and vote for the Congress).
Rahul Gandhi’s aggressive swing through the state has rattled the BJP enough to target him continuously. With a sassy new IT and social media head, Rahul’s Gabbar Singh Tax (GST) barb and other bon mots were gaining traction in social media. But the average Gujarati remains unmoved by social media one-liners.
Gujaratis are a pragmatic people. They want development. The shower of new projects, including the Narmada dam’s raised height, power plants and the ferry service linking Saurashtra to South Gujarat are important to them.
Women are the other trump card for the BJP. When he was CM, Modi assiduously wooed women voters with a slew of women-oriented schemes - the law that exempts women from property registration charges if the property is in their name, other schemes for girl students have over the years built up a formidable women’s constituency for the BJP.
While the Congress focuses on Dalits, Patidars, OBCs and Muslims, the women of Gujarat could be the factor that could tip the election decisively in the BJP’s favour.
Gujarat has consistently out-performed most states in terms of GDP growth. Infrastructure in the state is amongst the best in the country. Out of 18,066 villages, 17,856 villages, account for 98.84% of the population have paved roads.
Sstatistics place the law and order in Gujarat as amongst the better states of our country. For living conditions too, the state would be one of the better ones in India. Where else in India would one see well-paved and beautifully lit riverbanks like in Ahmedabad, Vadodara and Surat?
Rahul Gandhi is putting in his best effort to level all kinds of allegations, asking completely illogical questions, thus questioning the basic intelligence of the Gujarati voter. He has promised to waive all loans within 10 days of coming to power (one wonders why this is not treated as a financial incentive to voters by the Election Commission).
Frustrated by the fact that his mud slinging and allegations are not sticking, RaGa has adopted a new strategy of wooing voters – he has started visiting temples and is seeking the blessings of every Hindu God. He has probably visited more temples in Gujarat the last few months than he must have over the past few years or before any other state election!
Hardik Patel has brought the patidar reservation (whether or not this is permissible) to the forefront knowing that they have a small selfish voter base, looking for reservations, but a loud share of noise through some friendly media persons.
Then, there is the voter who knows his power. The voters have been hurt by the demonetization but they recognize the need for this significant step taken by the Prime Minister and support him. Yes, they have seen pain from the implementation of the GST but they can also see the long term benefits of this single tax in the country. And yes, there is the anti-incumbency factor in the state.
So how would a voter from Gujarat react?
Would they vote for BJP as they have done for so many years and continue to repose their trust in Prime Minister Modi? Or would they vote for the Congress and hope that the completely untested Rahul Gandhi may use a magic wand and deliver in the State of Gujarat something that he has failed to do in his Amethi constituency?
Read about this in Part no. 4.
End of Part 3.
@ Dayanand Nene
Alert Citizens Forum
Mood of Gujarat
As the Gujarat Assembly Election 2017 draws closer, it is shaping up to be a very interesting battle. Less than 8 days are left for the first round of polling and less than a week for campaigning to stop. The million dollar question on everyone's lips is will BJP win again or not, and if they do, will they increase their seat tally.
As a matter of fact, the Gujarat polls appear to have little to do with the state itself. It is being seen as a contest between PM Narendra Modi and Congress president-in-waiting Rahul Gandhi, who has now been repackaged and appears to be far more self-confident.
For Rahul Gandhi and Dynastic Politics, this may be a make-or-break election.
The Gujarat Assembly Polls are also being seen as a referendum on PM Modi's most controversial decisions such as demonetization and the implementation of GST.
What is the mood of voters across Gujarat ?
They have taken demonetization in their stride but dislike the GST. They suffered during the recent floods. Farmers are in distress, Dalits angry and Patidars resentful. But when it comes to the crunch, they will vote for Gujarati pride — which means Modi.
During my visits to Surat and Saurashtra, this sentiment was starkly evident: Some said, “It’s the first Assembly election since Narendra bhai became prime minister and we will stand by him,” Some others – traders from Surat said that yes, we don’t want GST and have been badly hit by demonetization. We shall continue to agitate against GST. ‘ Hum BJP ko zhukayenge, Modi ji ko mayemge. Par hum itne bhi gaye gujre nahi ko Congress ko vote denge’. ( We shall convince Modi, make BJP bow in front of us. But we are not traitors to go and vote for the Congress).
Rahul Gandhi’s aggressive swing through the state has rattled the BJP enough to target him continuously. With a sassy new IT and social media head, Rahul’s Gabbar Singh Tax (GST) barb and other bon mots were gaining traction in social media. But the average Gujarati remains unmoved by social media one-liners.
Gujaratis are a pragmatic people. They want development. The shower of new projects, including the Narmada dam’s raised height, power plants and the ferry service linking Saurashtra to South Gujarat are important to them.
Women are the other trump card for the BJP. When he was CM, Modi assiduously wooed women voters with a slew of women-oriented schemes - the law that exempts women from property registration charges if the property is in their name, other schemes for girl students have over the years built up a formidable women’s constituency for the BJP.
While the Congress focuses on Dalits, Patidars, OBCs and Muslims, the women of Gujarat could be the factor that could tip the election decisively in the BJP’s favour.
Gujarat has consistently out-performed most states in terms of GDP growth. Infrastructure in the state is amongst the best in the country. Out of 18,066 villages, 17,856 villages, account for 98.84% of the population have paved roads.
Sstatistics place the law and order in Gujarat as amongst the better states of our country. For living conditions too, the state would be one of the better ones in India. Where else in India would one see well-paved and beautifully lit riverbanks like in Ahmedabad, Vadodara and Surat?
Rahul Gandhi is putting in his best effort to level all kinds of allegations, asking completely illogical questions, thus questioning the basic intelligence of the Gujarati voter. He has promised to waive all loans within 10 days of coming to power (one wonders why this is not treated as a financial incentive to voters by the Election Commission).
Frustrated by the fact that his mud slinging and allegations are not sticking, RaGa has adopted a new strategy of wooing voters – he has started visiting temples and is seeking the blessings of every Hindu God. He has probably visited more temples in Gujarat the last few months than he must have over the past few years or before any other state election!
Hardik Patel has brought the patidar reservation (whether or not this is permissible) to the forefront knowing that they have a small selfish voter base, looking for reservations, but a loud share of noise through some friendly media persons.
Then, there is the voter who knows his power. The voters have been hurt by the demonetization but they recognize the need for this significant step taken by the Prime Minister and support him. Yes, they have seen pain from the implementation of the GST but they can also see the long term benefits of this single tax in the country. And yes, there is the anti-incumbency factor in the state.
So how would a voter from Gujarat react?
Would they vote for BJP as they have done for so many years and continue to repose their trust in Prime Minister Modi? Or would they vote for the Congress and hope that the completely untested Rahul Gandhi may use a magic wand and deliver in the State of Gujarat something that he has failed to do in his Amethi constituency?
Read about this in Part no. 4.
End of Part 3.
@ Dayanand Nene
Alert Citizens Forum
Comments
Post a Comment