A few hours after the Election Commission (EC) announced the Himachal elections on Friday, a meeting was held under the leadership of the PM at his residence. The BJP leaders of Gujarat and Himachal, including Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Gujarat CM Bhupendra Patel and state president C.R. Patil were present in the meeting, said sources.
According to sources, this meeting was related to the Gujarat elections. A strategy to save the throne of Gujarat was prepared in this 5-hour long meeting. It is believed that the BJP will compete in the Gujarat elections by keeping the face of the PM in front. At the same time, Amit Shah, along with J.P. Nadda, is busy preparing the complete outline of the plan. The gathering focused on several important aspects.
Modi-Shah to announce schemes before the EC’s model code of conduct
There is a possibility that the EC will announce the Gujarat elections after Diwali. In the remaining 10-12 days, Modi and Shah can give many big gifts to the state. The Defence Expo, which is going to be held in Gandhinagar in Gujarat from October 18 to October 22 will be inaugrated by the Prime Minister on October 19.
The government is expecting to have signatures on more than 400 Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for investments above Rs 1.25 lakh crore in this expo. Apart from this, the foundation stone of many schemes and inaugurations will also be done around Diwali in Gujarat.
To lessen the resentment of employees and farmers
In Gujarat, many teachers, class IV government employees, health workers, farmers, forest guards and other organisations are angry with the government and were part of protests recently. They protested for an increase in their grade pay and the implementation of Old Pension Scheme (OPS), among other demands.
The Bhupendra Patel government has been successful in pacifying some of these, and has received instructions from the PM to dispose off the resentment still being seen in some organisations.
Dealing with AAP’s promises and Congress’ silent propaganda
The Gujarat Assembly elections are likely to be triangular this time. Apart from the BJP-Congress, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is also vigorously engaged in registering its presence in the state. Arvind Kejriwal, the party’s national convenor is making populist promises of providing free water, electricity as well as restoring old pension scheme of employees.
In order to prevent the people from falling for these promises,the BJP has entrusted the central and state level leaders to go to the public and make them remember the development works of the government. Gujarat Gaurav Yatra is the beginning of the same.
At the same time, the silence of the Congress also remains a matter of concern for the BJP. Recently, during a rally, Modi warned his workers of Congress’ silent campaign. He said that the “Congress was campaigning in villages and one should not get confused by them for not giving speeches or being seen in news”.
To deal with this, the BJP has asked its workers to contact voters and conduct door to door campaigns. Amit Shah is also going to hold a meeting with the prominent leaders of Gujarat regarding this, said sources.
There are 40-50 seats in Gujarat where the party seems weak in its own survey. A strategy is being prepared to bring these seats in its favour by holding more rallies with Modi and Shah. The party is also trying to strengthen its hold on the tribal seats. There are 27 seats reserved for tribals in the state. In the year 2017, the party could win only nine seats. Two seats went to the Bharatiya Tribal Party (BTP) and the remaining went to the Congress.
Sources believe that CM Patel is not a leader with much mass base, hence the party has decided to go amongst the people with the face of Modi and the strategy of Shah.
Gujarat has a total of 182 seats in the Assembly, out of which it is very important for any party to win 92 seats for a majority. In the 2017 elections, the BJP won 99 seats, while the Congress got 77.
–IANS