Congress has called upon the Election Commission of India to halt the Surat election, alleging that BJP plotted a “match fixing” in the seat. Rahul Gandhi said that the unopposed victory of BJP in Surat has exposed the “dictator’s real face”. It has been widely reported that the opposition candidates were subjected to undue pressure to withdraw their nominations, and proposers of nominations of Congress candidates were made to deny their signatures. Congress has now decided to take legal recourse against such and elimination of political contest. Gujarat presents a serious disturbing symptom of Indian democracy under PM Narendra Modi.
Nevertheless, election campaign has begun in the state in the right earnest. Surat incidence of elimination of political contests has now become a major issue. INDIA bloc’s chief slogan is “Defeat BJP, save Democracy” and the promise of five-fold justice. BJP is relying heavily on PM Modi’s guarantee and tirade against the Congress alleging that the party is planning to take away property of Hindus and give it to the “infiltrators” and those who have “many children” indirectly referring to Muslims. It is to be noted that Gujarat is communally sensitive state ever since communal riots of 2002.
One can’t deny that BJP is a dominant political party in the state, though its vote share has been dwindling. In 2019 Lok Sabha election the party had won all the 26 constituencies of the state and bagged 62.21 per cent of votes. Its share came down to 52.50 per cent in the December 2022 Vidhan Sabha election. Here lies the hopes of INDIA bloc.
The Vidhan Sabha election had also witnessed the rise of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).The party was able to bag almost 13 per cent of votes. The party has made alliance with the Congress which had bagged 32.11 per cent of votes in the 2019 Lok Sabha election. In 2022 Vidhan Sabha election the party’s share of votes suffered a marginal decline and came down to 27.28 per cent. It shows that the rise of AAP was chiefly on account of BJP’s loss. Under the seat sharing arrangement, the Congress was to contest on 24 seats and AAP on 2 – Bhavnagar and Bharuch. Since, Congress’ Surat candidate’s nomination is rejected, the party is contesting now on the remaining 23 seats.
BJP is contesting this election in the state under the leadership of Amit Shah, with Narendra Modi as the party mascot. The party is ruling both at the Centre and the state, and being the Prime Minister’s home state, the party has certain advantage over the opposition. However, it is also suffering from anti-incumbency which has been reflected in the dwindled share of votes in Vidhan Sabha election 2022. PM Modi’s dominance in the party has a damaging effect on the local leadership too. There is lack of robust local leadership, which makes the party vulnerable to aggressive campaigns of resurgent Congress and AAP, whose leader Arvind Kejriwal has been put behind bar by Modi government for over a month now. The state has education and healthcare issues for which common electorates are inclined towards AAP. The opposition INDIA alliance has lately been able to consolidate anti-BJP votes, which is causing a great concern for the BJP.
INC under the local leadership of Shaktising Gohil and AAP led in the state by Isudan Gadhvi have a challenging task of leveraging their joint support base. If they somehow keep their flocks together, they can offer bigger challenges to the BJP candidates in several Lok Sabah constituencies. They need to strengthen their booth management to effectively take on the BJP. Other major contesting political parties are BSP and SP. BSP is contesting on 24 seats and SP in 1 seat, but they are not in a position to bag considerable anti-BJP votes, chiefly due to high level of polarization in all the 25 Lok Sabha seats where there are by and large one-on-one contests.
Congress is set to perform best in the Patan Lok Sabha constituency, since the party had won 4 out of 7 Vidhan Sabha segments in the 2022 elections. AAP may offer tough contest to BJP in Bharuch. The party is also aggressively campaigning in Bhavnagar. As we becoming closer to the election date, the resurgent INC seems to be positioning itself in closer contest in Banaskantha, Mahesana, Sabarkantha, Ahmedabad, Porbandar, Jamnagar, Junagarh, Amreli, Anand, Panchmahal, Vadodara, and Valsad.
Though BJP is eying to win all the seats from the state, it would have to contest a stiffer electoral battle this time chiefly on account of three factors – declining vote share of BJP, the rise of AAP, and resurgent Congress. Public discontent on joblessness and other economic distress is another disadvantage for BJP, which INDIA bloc is trying to derive benefit from.
BJP can’t afford to lose any of the seats since it is the home state of PM Narendra Modi and the Union Minister of Home Amit Shah. Gandhinagar is a key constituency where BJP’s Amit Shah is contesting. BJP has fielded Union Minister Parshottam Rupala from Rajkot, Union Minister Mansukh Mandaviya from Porbandar, Mansukh Vasava from Bharuch, and H Y Joshi from Vadodara. (IPA Service)
CONTROVERSY OVER SURAT SEAT HAUNTS BJP AS GUJARAT GOES TO POLLS ON MAY 7
CONGRESS-AAP COMBINE WORKING HARD BUT THE SAFFRONS ARE TOO ENTRENCHED
Dr. Gyan Pathak - 2024-04-29 11:58
On the last date of withdrawal of nomination on April 22 in Surat constituency of Gujarat, BJP’s candidate Mukesh Dalal was declared unopposed winner, triggering a great controversy on the onset of the election campaign, since this victory to BJP came after the rejection of the nomination of the main opposition Congress candidate. Nilesh Kumbhani was rejected while all other 8 candidates, predominantly independents, along with Pyarelal Bharti from the BSP, withdrew their nominations. Nomination form of the alternate Congress candidate Suresh Padsala was also rejected. Electoral race was thus eliminated on this seat. Now election of the rest 25 Lok Sabha constituencies of Gujarat would be held as scheduled in the third phase of election on May 7.