NE NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, OCT 16
The ‘double engine’ party is taking all possible efforts to remain in power eternally. The BJP is going for micro-management of the Assembly seats in Gujarat by roping in its national office-bearers and experienced poll managers from various states and assigning them a district each, sources said on Sunday.
Live: 'ગુજરાત ગૌરવ યાત્રા' અંતર્ગત ગોધરા વિધાનસભાની જાહેરસભા | #GujaratGauravYatra #BJP4Gujarat #ભરોસાની_ભાજપ_સરકાર https://t.co/JcEd5hwRHL
— BJP Gujarat (@BJP4Gujarat) October 16, 2022
Besides those from neighbouring Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, the central leadership of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has also given responsibilities to leaders from Uttar Pradesh for managing its election campaign in Gujarat, said the sources in the saffron party.
આ પ્રસંગે મંત્રી શ્રી @kpvaghelabjp, પ્રદેશ ઉપાધ્યક્ષ શ્રી @MSPatelBJP, સાંસદ શ્રી @PatelParbatbhai, શ્રી @AnavadiyaDinesh, બનાસ ડેરીના ચેરમેન @ChaudhryShankar, પૂર્વ સાંસદ શ્રી @haribhaiBanas સહિત ધારાસભ્યશ્રીઓ, હોદ્દેદારો, આગેવાનો, કાર્યકર્તાઓ અને નગરજનો ઉપસ્થિત રહ્યાં. (2/2) pic.twitter.com/YwRqau7Zrd
— BJP Gujarat (@BJP4Gujarat) October 16, 2022
“These leaders are experienced election managers. They will share their feedback on the seats allocated to them with the party’s central leadership and also coordinate with the local leaders,” one of the sources said.
BJP’s national general secretary Vinod Tawde has been given the responsibility of Vadodara and Chhota Udaipur districts. Similarly, Anand and Jamnagar districts have been assigned to two other national general secretaries of the party – CT Ravi and Tarun Chugh.
આ પ્રસંગે સાંસદ શ્રી @jsbhabhor, શ્રી @prabhunvasava, પૂર્વ મંત્રી શ્રી @Ganpatsinhv, એસ.ટી. મોરચાના અધ્યક્ષ શ્રી @iHarshadVasava સહિત ધારાસભ્યશ્રીઓ, હોદ્દેદારો, કાર્યકર્તાઓ અને ગ્રામજનો ઉપસ્થિત રહ્યાં.
(2/2)#GujaratGauravYatra #BJP4Gujarat#ભરોસાની_ભાજપ_સરકાર pic.twitter.com/IklxoiML2E
— BJP Gujarat (@BJP4Gujarat) October 16, 2022
Madhya Pradesh minister Narottam Mishra has been assigned the Banaskantha seat and Swatantra Dev Singh, a minister in the Uttar Pradesh government, has been given the responsibility of Kutch district.
Arvind Singh Bhadoria and Inder Singh Parmar – both ministers in the Madhya Pradesh government – have been given the responsibilities of Bharuch and Kheda respectively.
આ સભામાં પૂર્વ પ્રદેશ અધ્યક્ષ શ્રી @rcfalduofficial, કેબિનેટ મંત્રી શ્રી @KiritsinhJRana, પ્રદેશ ઉપાધ્યક્ષ ડૉ. @drbharatboghara, શ્રી @jkavadiya, જિલ્લા પ્રમુખશ્રી જગદીશભાઈ મકવાણા સહિત સંગઠનના હોદ્દેદારો, ધારાસભ્યશ્રીઓ, સમાજિક આગેવાનો- કાર્યકર્તાઓ અને નગરજનો ઉપસ્થિત રહ્યાં. (2/2) pic.twitter.com/W7bQoO6MZ8
— BJP Gujarat (@BJP4Gujarat) October 16, 2022
Nitin Nabin, a BJP leader from Bihar, has been given the charge of Surat, which has a substantial migrant population.
“The central leadership of the party has specifically asked its leaders from the Rajasthan unit to focus on the 46 Assembly constituencies adjoining the Rajasthan-Gujarat border”, the sources said.
જનતા જનાર્દનના આશીર્વાદ…
ગુજરાત ગૌરવ યાત્રાનું ગતરોજ લીંબડી ખાતે સ્વાગત કરવામાં આવ્યું તેમજ કેન્દ્રીય મંત્રી શ્રી @PRupala અને શ્રી @ianuragthakur ની અધ્યક્ષતામાં જંગી જાહેરસભા યોજાઈ. (1/2)#GujaratGauravYatra #BJP4Gujarat#ભરોસાની_ભાજપ_સરકાર pic.twitter.com/PZBpEa0heE
— BJP Gujarat (@BJP4Gujarat) October 16, 2022
BJP MLA from Rajasthan Narayan Singh Dewal has been appointed as the coordinator of the leaders who will be deputed from the state to poll-bound Gujarat.
The saffron party is eyeing to break the Congress’s record of winning 149 Assembly seats in Gujarat under the leadership of Madhavsinh Solanki and set a new benchmark.
Dalit votes may get divided among BJP, Cong and AAP in Gujarat
At around eight per cent of Gujarat’s population, Dalits are not a numerically dominant community in the state, but their votes are likely to get divided among the ruling BJP, opposition Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party in the upcoming Assembly elections, say political observers.
All political parties are trying their best to woo the community, because apart from 13 seats (out of the total 182 in the state) reserved for the Scheduled Castes, Dalit voters can also tilt the scales in a few dozen other seats, they feel.
Dalits account for just eight per cent of the state’s population. They are normally an absolute minority in villages. Even in urban areas, their number is not large in a given pocket, he said.
“Also, the AAP’s strategy to attract Dalits by claiming the legacy of Babasaheb Ambedkar by side-lining Mahatma Gandhi makes it attractive to the community,” he said.
The Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP has already promised a number of ‘guarantees’ to people of the state if it is voted to power.
“I think the voting pattern of Dalit youth will be divided among the three parties. It will not go to a single political party. I don’t know which political party will benefit, but Dalits will not benefit from this,” he claimed.
Meanwhile, BJP spokesperson Yagnesh Dave said apart from publicising schemes of the state and central governments that are meant for the community, they are also roping in religious heads of holy places associated with the Dalit community like Jhanjharka and Rosra,
“Even in 2017, the Dalit community supported the BJP, and we believe it will extend us the same support in 2022,” he said.
The Congress aims to increase the Dalit voter turnout, especially in the unreserved seats where the community accounts for 10 per cent or more of the population.
The AAP is hoping its ‘guarantees’ like 300 units of free electricity per month, unemployment dole and Rs 1,000 allowance for women will attract the Dalits also, besides other communities.
Its deliberate efforts to claim Ambedkar’s legacy will also play a role, political observers said.
Congress’s Scheduled Caste department chairman Hitendra Pithadiya said the party is paying special attention to seats with 10 percent or more Dalit population.
“This is probably the first time that Congress is not limiting itself to reserved constituencies. We have identified around 40 constituencies with more than 10 per cent Dalit voters,” Pithadiya said.
The Congress had won 19 out of these 40 constituencies in 2017 and lost some seats by a narrow margin, he added.
“We want Dalits to come out strongly and vote for the Congress in these constituencies. If this happens, we can win. We will try and ensure that we field Dalit candidates in unreserved seats too,” he said.
The Congress had fielded Dalit candidates in the unreserved seat of Sayajigunj in Vadodara city in 2017 and in Limbayat in Surat city in 2012. It lost in both the places.
The 2017 election was preceded by protests against the ruling BJP over the flogging of members of a Dalit community by cow vigilantes at Una in Gir Somnath district.
While attacks on Dalits by the members of dominant upper castes and Other Backward Classes and discrimination are not uncommon in rural Gujarat, the Una incident provided a major issue for the Congress to rally the community on its side.
Dalit activist Jignesh Mevani, who led the protests after the Una incident, won the 2017 election from the Vadgam seat, reserved for the Scheduled Caste candidates, with the Congress’s support.
Mevani recently announced that he will contest the 2022 election on Congress ticket.
